MLK Remembrance

MARTIN LUTHER KING:  50 YEARS SINCE HIS ASSASSINATION

REFUSING PLAY SAFE RESPECTABILITY

By Stephen Wilson

 

MOSCOW  -- When I asked Daniel Ogen, an American Indian storyteller who his hero

was I was half expecting him to say Abraham Lincoln , Sitting Bull or

Franklin Roosevelt. But no it was not any of them . He told me :" I really

admire Martin Luther King. He believed in helping his fellow man not

by violence or anger but by peaceful civil disobedience. .... People say

pacifism does not work but they have never given it a chance. " 

He emphasized that the main point is to struggle against injustice without

becoming bitter and angry attempting to develop into a real spiritual

being rather than remain an animal or 'pale ghost' as the American

Indians once described the European invaders. Daniel's eyes seem

to light up and he looked ten times younger at the very mention of

King's name. Even uttering the name Martin Luther King can conjure

up some sort of magic spell. I got a similar reaction when I was visiting

my Aunt Susie in Dunfermline. She told me : "O my late Aunt adored

Martin Luther King . She very much admired him and supported him.

She strongly spoke out for him and what he was trying to do ".

It sounded as it my grand aunt had been in love with him.

The Northern Irish civil rights movement which marched for an

end to discrimination against Catholics by Protestants was modeled

on the American Civil rights movement of the 1960's. The Irish were

marching for both better housing conditions, jobs and one man one

vote! They strove to do this peacefully!

What was it about Martin Luther King which could fill people with awe?

Was it charisma ? Was it partly the fact that he articulately voiced the

grievances which struck a chord with so many oppressed people?

I think one of the powerful reasons for his appeal was that he geniunely

believed and practiced an authentic Christianity. Unlike many so called

Christians he did not play safe or see Christianity as an escape or

evasion from problems. On the contrary , to become a Christian is to

live dangerously .He did not just attend church, take the sacraments

and live respectably, but went out on to the streets and challenged

the authorities to provide decent and accessible housing for poor

people, provide them with decent well paid jobs and start genuinely

helping your neighbor regardless of his origin and color.

When Martin Luther King fought he came up against all the forces of

evil. It is as if there is truth in the saying that 'The more you try to

progress spiritually the more evil looms up to try and block your way. '

At one stage Martin Luther King was receiving so many death threats,

insults and even some bomb attacks that he was on the verge of a

nervous breakdown. He may even have thought of just giving up.

Then he went to sleep and heard God tell him : "I will behind you

everyday in your struggle. I will never abandon you !" He carried on

helped galvanize a movement which also involved his wife Coretta Scott

Rosa Parks and so many more fighters .

Given the background of constant threats ,attacks and harassment

it was perhaps no surprise that he was assassinated 50 years ago

on 4 April 1968. But his legacy has been deradicalised

and sanitized by people who have never taken the trouble to read

his works. When I read his selected works in the American library

in Moscow I was astonished about how radical his works were.

He not only fought for civil rights but against the war in Vietnam

and launched a tirade against slum landlords charging exorbitant rent

for appalling conditions. Now, the struggle against racism has

been trivialized and reduced to simply allowing African Americans

to become effective managers who can share the same privilege

of exploiting their fellow workers. Advancing careers rather than

genuinely caring for the underdog seems to be the misconstrued

message behind King. King was never a one issue crusader. He

did not divide struggles up into watertight compartments but linked

them. So the struggle for better jobs and housing was insolubly

related to the fight for better civil rights.

Martin Luther King's message is more potent than ever. The

shoot to kill policy which is constantly being used against

African Americans leading to avoidable tragedies suggests that

Black Lives matter more than ever. There is certainly something

much more to be done in the name of his legacy !