Rather than mourn a good person’s death, it’s better to celebrate the life that they had lived. On today, what would have been the seventy-eighth birthday of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I cannot bring myself to celebration. I cannot bring myself to happiness.
I am so happy that the great Martin Luther King Jr. graced our world with his messages of hope, justice, freedom, and peace. But, that happiness is overshadowed by my sadness over his premature death by assassination.
Why do the good die young? Why did Martin Luther King Jr. have to die before his time?
I have no answers to these questions.
I have included audio and video clips from some of Dr. Martin Luther King’s speeches and sermons (and a song by Common at the bottom):
The full version of Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech:
This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King, “Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam”
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death[…] Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit. And go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism and militarism.” -Martin Luther King
“We mean business now, and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God’s world. And that’s all this whole thing is about. We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God’s children. And that we don’t have to live like we are forced to live[…] We don’t have to argue with anybody. We don’t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don’t need any bricks and bottles, we don’t need any Molotov cocktails, we just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, God sent us by here, to say to you that you’re not treating his children right. And we’ve come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda–fair treatment, where God’s children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Clips:
Common – I Have A Dream:
This is a video for Common’s new song for the upcoming movie Freedom Writers. The clips are from Common, Talib Kweli, Matisyahu, the movie Freedom Writers, and a couple random Youtube clips.
What do you think?
Thanks posting these quotes 🙂
I was just thinking the same myself. So sad. His wife, Coretta Scott King, was just as much an amazing individual. I think of her speeches and calls to justice and equality, and not just for the African-American community, but for others, especially Coretta’s emphasis on the gay and lesbian community. As her departed husband, Coretta also believed in the equality of others. Sadly, and I might ruffle feathers by saying this, individuals such as Bush and others live long enough to make life miserable for many. It’s just not right…