Dr.
King's Legacy
“When
evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good
men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred,
good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. When evil men
would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to
bring into being a real order of justice.”
Rev.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rev.
King was the right man for the time. He came into his oratorical
powers at the perfect moment to lead the nation to a different way of
being in the world. I think events in Birmingham and Selma were
the turning point. When the world watched Bull Connor unleash police
dogs and fire hoses on a peace-singing crowd of teenagers, and when
the State Police fired on unarmed people who were trying to cross the
Edmund Pettus bridge in a march to the state capital, the tide of
human compassion turned, and the Civil Rights era succeeded.
Timing
is everything. There are two kinds of time: chronos, which is time as
it is ticked off at intervals, seconds, minutes, hours and so forth;
and kairos, meaning the right, or opportune, moment. Some people
refer to kairos as “God's time.” Martin Luther King Jr.'s skill at
moving the hearts and minds of people found the opportune moment to
be of service. He was a man of many facets, not all of them perfect,
but the power of his words will be a beacon to oppressed people
forever.
Today,
in Washington, Barack Obama, our first African American President,
who would not be standing on the podium had it not been for Rev.
King, will place his hand on Dr. King's Bible and take the Oath of
Office for the second time. In Birmingham, an African American Mayor,
William Bell, will usher in a year of Civil Rights celebrations,
marking the fiftieth anniversary of the movement. And, everywhere,
people will read the words of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation,
which is one hundred and fifty years old this year. Doesn't
it make you wonder where America will be in another fifty years? We
may struggle with controversial issues, but at least we always come
down on the right side. And that is the side of freedom, and
inclusion, and open-heartedness.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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