Few Americans have left a stronger legacy than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Both this year and the date of April 4, will represent anniversaries of monumental events in King’s life.
The year 2013 represents half a century since King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” message during the March on Washington for jobs and freedom in 1963.
On April 4, 1967, King delivered another historic speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” at New York’s Riverside Church, calling for worldwide fellowship and peace in light of the Vietnam conflict.
Exactly one year later, King was assassinated while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis. Later that evening, Sen. Robert Kennedy delivered a memorable speech in Indianapolis calling for peace as a tribute to King’s memory.
This year, many will observe the the 50th anniversary of the march, and on April 4, the 45th anniversary of King’s assassination and Kennedy’s speech.
“These anniversaries provide an opportunity for us as a city and as a nation to take stock of the progress we have made, and the progress we have yet to make,” said Matthew Myer Boulton, president of Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) in Indianapolis, which will host a major discussion about King’s goals on April 12. “This is a time for us to look directly at the kinds of concerns Dr. King devoted his life to and ask hard questions about how we’re doing, how we can do better and how we can come together in the crucial causes of justice, reconciliation and love.”
This week the Recorder spoke with King’s son, activist Martin Luther King III, about his father’s legacy and the anniversaries that will be highlighted this year.
He noted the March on Washington and the Vietnam speech highlighted the need to address what his father and mother Coretta Scott King devoted their lives to addressing, the “triple evils” of poverty, racism and violence at home and around the world.
King said America has “made significant strides” in the area of race relations, culminating in the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president.
“At the same time, it does not mean that racism is resolved, it just means we have made progress,” King said.
King added that the president can not make all of the necessary changes alone.
“Clearly, his election alone was not the solution, and there is a limited amount of what he can do,” King said. “It really takes the collective effort of all of us – civil rights groups, labor, religious leaders, community activists and all of those who are interested in being engaged in making positive changes for our nation and our children – to create a demand for Congress to do what needs to be done to move America forward.”
Boulton, the CTS president, agreed with King’s assessments, saying that he believes progress has been made on certain issues since the elder King’s time, but the county has a long way to go.
“I think we need to keep both of those things in mind so we don’t become complacent, but then also so we don’t become discouraged,” Boulton said.
Boulton said the laws that were passed as a result of the civil rights movement brought progress. He mentioned that today, however, racism is in no way eradicated, generations of Americans continue to be economically disenfranchised and violent events can be found in numerous headlines.
“Many of those issues are as pressing and important today as they were in the early ‘60s,” Boulton said.
King noted that many of the causes his father fought for remain unresolved.
He said that acute economic inequalities remain, 45 million Americans lived in poverty during his father’s lifetime, and the number has swelled to more than 60 million.
“During his life, dad talked about a living wage, and he was way ahead of the curve,” King said. “Forty-five years later, we are still trying to get the minimum wage raised.”
King noted that his father was very concerned about economic injustice, and at the time of his death was supporting a group of striking sanitation workers in Memphis. Next week, King will join Rev. Al Sharpton, AFSME President Lee Saunders and other leaders in that city to commemorate the strike and King’s Poor People’s Campaign, designed to bring low income people of all races together to speak out for economic equality.
King said the country has spent billions on unnecessary and violent military excursions such as the recent war in Iraq. At the same time, a culture of violence has been created and tolerated in society, being promoted in entertainment and has manifested itself in violence in homes and on the streets.
However, King emphasized there is no reason for anyone to lose hope.
“This is a critical time for our nation, but we can use it to become re-engaged,” he said, noting that social media can be used as “the next wave” of the movement for positive changes.
“All we have to do is engage people in something everybody can agree will move the community forward,” he said.
King added that economic progress can be made when minorities appreciate the impact of their more than $1 trillion in spending power, and use it to support businesses in their community not exclusively, but more often.
“What my father and others were basically saying is we need to integrate, but not abandon our own institutions.”
King described his father’s assassination on April 4, 1968, as the “most traumatic event” for his family, but noted it also helped the nation finally understand the message of the civil rights movement.
“However, it’s ironic that my dad was a proponent of non-violence, yet people became so angry after his death cities across the country went up in flames,” said King.
At what is now King Park in Indianapolis that evening, Robert Kennedy, while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, broke the news of King’s death to a shocked crowd, but comforted them – and the nation – with words that encouraged them to refrain from reacting with violence.
In an impromptu speech, Kennedy said Blacks and whites could move toward greater polarization, “filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion and love.”
King said his father would have been pleased with what Kennedy said and what local residents did that night.
“Indianapolis will always be remembered historically because of the fact that Kennedy articulated an important point of view in that city, and the citizens paid attention and chose to grieve in a different way than other cities that engaged in violence,” King said.
Join the discussion
On April 12 from 1:30 to 8:30 p.m., Christian Theological Seminary will host a discussion and workshops by leading social justice thought leaders to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream, explore how the dream has evolved and examine how the dream applies in today’s world where poverty, injustice and despair remain prevalent. For more information call (317) 924-1331 or visit www.cts.edu.
