Saturday, April 5, 2008

In Memory of Dr. Martin Luther King 1/15/29 – 4/4/68

Martin Luther King was assasinated in Memphis, Tennessee on 4 April 1968 - Thousands of people march next to MLK Jr.




'I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.’



“I am convinced that it is one of the most unjust wars that has ever been fought in the history of the world. Our involvement in the war in Vietnam has torn up the Geneva Accord. It has strengthened the military-industrial complex; it has strengthened the forces of reaction in our nation. It has put us against the self-determination of a vast majority of the Vietnamese people, and put us in the position of protecting a corrupt regime that is stacked against the poor.'


“And the leaders of the world today talk eloquently about peace. Every time we drop our bombs in North Vietnam, President Johnson talks eloquently about peace. What is the problem? They are talking about peace as a distant goal, as an end we seek, but one day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. All of this is saying that, in the final analysis, means and ends must cohere because the end is preexistent in the means, and ultimately destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.’

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the reminding us all of the assassination of MLK. Although I find myself at odds with some of the tactical decisions that he made, the life and death of Martin Luther King Jr still fills my heart with a great sense of optimism. Perhaps it is more the symbol of MLK that is the most important. He is not a symbol of justice, but more a symbol of the demand for justice that is a fundamental characteristic of the human condition that ,unfortunately, not enough of us act upon.

Yesi King said...

nxenos83 i agree with you. as you i don't necessarily agree with his philosophy or as you said tactical decisions....but can put those differences aside, among others to appreciate the man who put his life on the line for justice.