August 28, 2008 6:45 AM
MLK - I Have a Dream
When: August 28, 1963
Where: Washington, DC - Civil Rights March
Who: Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I have a dream...where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."
"This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning,
'My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring.'"
"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,
'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!/"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
How I wish we had his wisdom today in dealing with the question of protecting the least of these. Our constitution is built on LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our faith is built on truth and life and generosity.
Somehow, I think that rather than appealing to our self-centeredness and fear, MLK would have given us the leadership and guidance we need.
He was a leader, not a follower of popular culture. May we someday live up to his vision in every area of our national life.
Posted in Inspiration | Permalink
Comments
MLK proudly accepted Planned Parenthood's 1966 Margaret Sanger award. By that time, Dr. Alan Guttmacher had been the director of PP for four years and under his leadership PP was activly advocating for legalized abortion.
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/the-reverend-martin-luther-king-jr.htm
To my knowledge MLK never specifically addressed the issue of abortion in any of his speaches or writings. I think it is telling, however, that he would accept an award from PP while the organization was pushing for abortion to be legalized. He was, however, a vocal proponent of family planning (the pill).
I'm not trying to minimize King's role in combating racial inequality in the US. I just want to make sure that your readers know we cannot safely assume that King would a member of the prolife camp.
Posted by: Anna | August 28, 2008 9:28 AM
I was so glad to see this post today. This morning I played this video for my 11/12 grade Language Arts students. I spoke to them about the significance of today. I spoke of my memories of growing up in Los Angeles during the turbulent period of the '60's and how my parents took me to Watts 2 days after the riots to help our African-American friends who lived there clean up their community. I was 5 at the time. I was so glad my parents gave me that memory even though they now think they were crazy for taking me there.
I also asked my students to put themselves in Dr. King's children's place today as they watch an African-American accept the nomination for President. How are they feeling today & what thoughts might they have? It will make for some interesting essays tomorrow!
One of my students had tears in her eyes and said "I'm so thankful that God was good to us & gave us someone like Dr. King instead of a Hitler who could have destroyed our nation." Me, too. And if God did that for us then it can do it now.
Posted by: Lori F | August 28, 2008 10:54 AM
Anna - I am so sorry to hear this. Especially as I have written extensively on Planned Parenthood and Black Genocide. http://mommylife.net/archives/2007/02/abortion_and_af.html
Here is Dr. MLK's niece on the subject: http://www.priestsforlife.org/africanamerican/index.htm
Posted by: barbara | August 28, 2008 12:10 PM
I have also often wondered how his life, ministry and influence might have continued if God had not seen fit to allow him to graduate so early.
Again, I have to say, that the disgusting ways I've seen the "race card" played during this campaign fly so directly in the face of MLK's words about judging a person not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
"...where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers."
This line always gives me a smile. I know well that racism is not gone, and it never will be, but I see, quite literally, little white boys and a little black girl joining hands and living together as sister and brothers every day in my house. =)
Posted by: Marian | August 28, 2008 1:46 PM
