WHAT WOULD MARTIN
DO?
A Tribute to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Delivered by Janis F. Kearney at the MLK,
Jr. Lecture Series, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
January 25, 2003
Good Afternoon. It is always good to be home.
Home to Arkansas, home to Little Rock, and home to
the University of Arkansas where I spent countless
nights attending classes. Of course, that was two
decades ago, and much has changed at this great
university since then.
Please allow me to thank the
hosts for this wonderful event and the University
administration for inviting me here today. It is indeed an
honor for me.
My interest in Martin Luther King, Jr. goes
far beyond the theoretical the historical facts and
figures we have all learned about this great
leader. You see, as a child growing up in Gould,
Arkansas -- 72 miles south of here, I vividly
recall my parents' fascination and reverence with
two American leaders. And it was these two men's
photos, along with another of Jesus Christ,
adorning our living room wall…long after the
paper in those dime-store photos began to
fade.
I can still see those photographs -- John F.
Kennedy, handsome and young, and Martin Luther
King, handsome and even younger. One was a black
southern Baptist minister; the other, a white
eastern catholic. Both, however, were leaders among
leaders during that critical time in American
history.
Most of you, I am sure are too young to
understand the reverence my parents paid these men,
and of course, my parents came no closer to meeting
them in real life than a man in the moon. But,
those photos meant a great deal to the Kearney
family in Gould; and, if you had walked into the
homes of 20 other black families, at least half of
them would have that same photo hanging on their
walls -- their kitchen wall, their hallways, or
maybe even in the living room, like we did.
What, you might ask, did these two men mean to
my parents who were under-educated, but visionary
sharecroppers whose daily priorities were their
cotton crop and their children's livelihoods. The
answer, quite simply was that John F. Kennedy
represented a possibility for change and change
meant something better. His presidency showed
America's capacity for change when they elected and
"outsider," as president -- and, that was a
positive. James and Ethel Kearney saw his
presidency as America finally seeing differences
and accepting them.
And, as for that other photograph of the young
southern Baptist preacher, today I will take just a
bit of your time to talk about what that particular
man meant to my parents, and to us, and to families
across the country like us.
IN a nutshell, Reverend King gave my parents
hope. He engaged them, and others like them, in
that elusive thing called hope. A belief in
something better that we couldn't exactly put our
finger on…but, we knew it meant that our lives
could change for the better. Martin Luther King,
Jr. encouraged my parents' belief that what is true
for them, or their children on any given day, was
no indictment of what the future might hold.
What Martin encouraged in my parents and those
other black families who lived in that time and in
that place, was that anything is possible if one
believed hard enough, worked hard enough, prayed
hard enough, and dreamed hard enough.
WHAT he dared do in that segregated town of
Gould, Arkansas was to move my parents' sight
beyond their cotton fields, to the place on the
other side -- and, to believe that one day, we
would in fact make it to the other side.
Martin Luther King Jr. espoused that thing
called Hope; something so rare and delicious in an
environment such as ours that we could almost taste
it, imagined we could touch it.
The Kearney household, like so many other in the
early 50's and 60's, drank in the words of Reverend
King, sat for hours listening to his promise of a
better day; brought their children together to
watch this great man on the 10-inch black and white
television set.
This was a time when America was on the cusp of
greatness. When, blacks weren't close to being
considered equal, and we knew it -- but, we
believed in possibilities. It was a time when we
listened in awe, as men and women such as Martin
Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, Wiley Branton, A.
Philip Randolph, Daisy Bates, Ella Baker and others
talked about the possibilities of integration.
But, because of these leaders, and especially
because of Martin Luther King, Jr., there was an
excitement about the struggle because we believed
in the possibilities; and, we knew we had this
young, charismatic man called Martin leading the
fight.
So, today, I am here to pay tribute to, and
share my thoughts about the great Reverend Martin
Luther King, Jr. And, allow me to say up front,
that: of the many great leaders this country lay
claim to, in my mind, there is none comparable to
Reverend King -- a leader who, in his goodness, his
selflessness, his VISION -- became greater than
life -- a hero, a spiritual and religious icon, a
man who changed America and the world for the
better, and helped change life for African
Americans and other minorities in a way that no
other leader in American history, has.
I think any of you in the audience would be
hard-pressed to come up with any corner of this
country -- be it north, south, east or west -- that
does not claim some reminder of the legacy and
works of Reverend King.
For the next few minutes, I would like to share
with you my thoughts and feelings about this great
human being -- for I do believe the most memorable
characteristic about Martin Luther King, Jr., was
his humanity -- a humanity empowered by
uncompromising courage; His compassion for his
fellow man, and his unwavering commitment to making
life better for all of us.
Let me admit to you that there was some turmoil
in my mind and my heart shortly after being asked
to be here, today. It certainly was not a question
of whether I would or should speak, but the
question was: What to say, given the September 11
Tragedy that we all -- in small ways or big ways,
experienced almost four months ago, to the day.
Should the message, in the midst of this
tragedy, change? Is America…and, Americans
still focused and interested in Martin Luther
King's life-long commitment to peace, to equality
and justice… to America becoming a color-blind
democracy? Even after the tragedy of September
11?
Of course we all read the newspapers, and listen
to the evening news. And, we all know that
sometimes it's not what is said …but rather,
what isn't said that is of most substance. Maybe
you've noticed, as I have, the subtle insinuations
that the tragedy of September 11 is a call for us
to put civil rights on the back burner; that it is
no longer a priority for this country; that equity
and individual rights are lofty goals in a time of
peace and prosperity; but, in a time of crisis,
such ideals must be taken in measures.
Others have insinuated that Martin Luther King's
position on non-violence, man's pursuit of a higher
moral ground -- is not useful in a time of war, not
workable in this new world we've been forced into.
Or, that, given the enormity of the tragedy that
took place against our country and our people, we
should lay aside our dreams of a compassionate
America, an America that celebrates our
differences, at least until the war has ended.
So, you see the conflict…the questions,
which filled my thoughts as I sought some insight
into what to say about Martin Luther King, Jr. --
after the tragedy of September 11…
But, then I recalled an ironic fact: That it was
in this same Mid-Eastern region -- this region that
is now the site of what some Americans are calling
the "third world war" zone; this region that has
seen turmoil and wars for as long as any of us can
remember, that Reverend King traveled and found the
"key" to his movement. India, just a stone's throw
from the Afghan of America's fears -- was where
young Rev. King studied and embraced Mahatma
Ghandi's doctrine of non-violence and peaceful
change -- making it the centerpiece of his own
civil rights movement. Martin Luther King knew
better than most that you can't judge a country or
a world or a people by it's evil -- that there is
goodness to be found even in the darkest of
times.
And, it was with these realizations that I came
to the most important question of all: Would Martin
Luther King, Jr. change his message, given
September 11's tragedy?
And, of course, even the most brilliant
historians and clergymen cannot answer that
question with any certainty. But, I can tell you
what I believe, based on his life, his history, his
life's mission. And, I can share with you what he
said, during a Christmas address to Ebenezer
Baptist Church, in December, 1967 :
And I quote:
"Now let me suggest first that if we are to have
peace on earth, our loyalties must become
ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties
must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and
our nation; and this means we must develop a world
perspective. No individual can live alone; no
nation can live alone, and as long as we try, the
more we are going to have war in this world. Now
the judgment of God is upon us, and we must either
learn to live together as brothers or we are all
going to perish together as fools."
The answer then, in my mind, is that Reverend
King's message today, would be the same message he
gave 30 years ago, when he lived in another kind of
terror. My answer is that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s
message, his words…transcends all times, all
events. There is no question in my mind that his
admonishments to us to love our enemies, and
continue to seek the higher ground, would still
apply today, four months after the September 11
bombings.
Martin Luther King, Jr. had an extraordinary
vision, with an incredible ability to work against
the past, imagine the future, while living in the
present. It was this vision that made his words,
words for all times, all occasions, even tragedies.
He lived his life each day knowing that tragedy
could occur. Yet, his commitment to "righting the
wrongs" of his country were worth those risks.
It was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s unfailing
courage and faith that allowed him - in spite of
this danger -- to continue to go out on the battle
fields, to lead civil rights campaigns most of his
adult life -- working to secure civil justice,
economic parity, integration, educational
equality.
It was his courage that allowed him to lead our
struggle for freedom from the roads of Albany,
Georgia to the streets of Memphis, and to endure
years of hate, and violence and sometimes from his
own people.
The power of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s
leadership was it's rarity -- his ability to marry
an unwavering hope, ability to imagine a better
tomorrow, and a steel-like courage to see it
through.
There were many highlights of Reverend King's
civil rights campaigns, but one of the earliest and
most notable was the 1955 Montgomery Boycott
struggle he was asked to lead. This young minister,
theologian and biblical scholar knew the dangers of
what he was doing, but his belief in "righting the
wrongs" of the world he inhabited, urged him on. It
was his courage, and his vision of what could be
that drove him.
It was Reverend King's unwavering courage, and
commitment to righting this world's wrongs, that
led the young minister to Birmingham, Alabama in
April, 1963. And, after being jailed there for his
participation in a non-violent march, it was his
courage and commitment that inspired him to respond
to a letter from a group of clergymen, invoking him
to "wait."
Now, these were certainly good men, men who
believed in the word of God, and men that Rev. King
respected. But, they were ministers convinced that
Reverend King was taking things too fast; that,
only if he "waited", things would eventually right
themselves.
In his response to their fears and concerns,
Reverend King sat in that jail, and composed what
is now considered one of his most inspired and
prophetic writings, called simply, the : "letter
from the Birmingham Jail,"
Reverend King wrote: "I am here because
injustice is here. Moreover, I am cognizant of the
inter-relatedness of all communities and states. I
cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned
about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere…"
No, Martin Luther King, Jr., would not see this
most recent tragedy as something outside his
purview. He would see this as a microcosm of the
hate and the injustice that permeates every corner
of this universe. He would see the death and
destruction caused by one group of religious
fanatics as something akin to the narrow-minded
righteousness that ruled America's south so many
years…"Injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere," is what he believed.
If Martin Luther King, Jr. lived today, and was
witness to the September 11 tragedy, he would be
saddened, and would grieve for the sinners, as he
would for the innocent victims. He would ask God to
forgive the misguided, but most importantly, to
give strength and understanding to those who must
go on.
Martin Luther King, Jr., would admonish us,
today, to love our enemies -- just as Jesus did. In
one sermon, delivered in November, 1957, entitled:
"Loving your Enemies," Rev. King touched on this
very issue: "
"I think the first reason that we should love
our enemies, and I think this is at the very center
of Jesus' thinking is this: that hate for hate only
intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the
universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you
back and you hit me back and go on, you see that
goes on ad infinitum. It just never ends. Somewhere
somebody must have a little sense, and that's the
strong person. The strong person is the person who
can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil.
And, that is the tragedy of hate: It doesn't cut it
off. It only intensifies the existence of hate and
evil in the universe. Somebody must have religion
enough and morality enough to cut it off; and
inject within the very structure of the universe
that strong and powerful element of love."
Thus, I am confident that the Martin Luther
King, Jr., who would be 72-years old, today; would
be a leader not just for black Americans, or white
Americans or Asian Americans or Native Americans or
Hispanic-Americans; but a world leader. His voice
would yet be strong, and eloquent and
compassionate. He would still draw a standing-room
only crowd, and he would espouse each of us not to
give up on the doctrine that he lived by: Love and
forgiveness. More than anyone he would understand
that forgetting that simple doctrine leaves room --
opportunities for such tragedies as the one we most
recently experienced.
Though he was a brilliant man of the cloth,
Martin Luther King also understood the importance
of politics, and it would be no different today. If
he were here with us, he would understand the
important of using his God-given influence and
mesmerizing oratory skills to help America's
leaders look beyond our current "human" conditions
-- to see beyond the mountaintop.
This September 11th tragedy would represent a
new mission for Reverend King -- an expansion of
his civil rights struggle, to encompass a global
mission for World Peace…a larger struggle to
live or die for.
Today, his schedule would be full - he would be
speaking non-stop to religious leaders, to
political leaders, and, yes to world leaders. And
he wouldn't change his speech to fit the venue. He
would tell the layman the same thing as the
intellectuals; and the corporate leaders, the same
thing as the world leaders -- and, his over-arching
theme would be: World Peace at all cost.
For, Martin Luther King, Jr. experienced terror.
He had awakened each morning of his adult life, and
slept each night fully aware of the potential
terror that surrounded his mission. It was his
faith, his courage and his vision that allowed him
to look beyond what was in front of him; allowing
him to ask the question of all great men: "what
if?" It was his vision that allowed him to show us
what our possibilities were.
It was April, 1968, during what Rev. King called
a prelude to his Poor People's March on Washington,
that he embarked on what turned out to be his last
freedom ride. Upon urgings of friends, supporters
and local leaders, Rev. King traveled to Memphis,
Tennessee to support, and participate in the
sanitation workers' strike for fair wages.
And, as we all know, Martin Luther King, Jr.
died on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Hotel in
downtown Memphis, Tennessee. And, for a time on
that day, our world stood still -- for, a world
leader, a "soldier of the cross," had left us. Just
two months earlier, friends said that Reverend King
had told an Atlanta congregation that the only
epitaph he wanted on his gravestone, was: "Martin
Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life to serving
others."
This was an impossible thing to ask of those who
knew this great man's prolific works and his
struggles. A posthumous Presidential Medal of
freedom award, read: "Martin Luther King Jr. was
the conscience of his generation. A southerner, a
black man, he gazed on the great wall of
segregation and saw that the power of love could
bring it down…He helped us overcome our
ignorance of one another…he made our nation
stronger because he made it better…His life
informed us, his dreams sustain us yet."
Martin's life demanded a kind of courage that
asks us to be larger than we are. He told one
congregation: "I realize that this type of courage
means suffering and sacrifice. It might mean going
to jail. If such is the case we must honorably fill
up the jail houses of the south. It might even lead
to physical death. But if such physical death is
the price that we must pay to free our children
from a life of permanent psychological death, then
nothing could be more honorable.
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s message, his prophetic
words transcend all cultures, all races, all
boundaries, all times. Today we should be reminded
not to let his living, nor his dying, have been in
vain. He left us a legacy of hope, and courage ,
and faith - that allows us to believe in a brighter
tomorrow…even in the midst of a storm.
In an early sermon delivered in Montgomery,
Alabama, Dr. King said: "As you press on for
justice, be sure to move with dignity and
discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no
man pull you so low as to hate him…"
I believe was he here today, Reverend King would
admonish us all to keep believing in the power of
love…and to know that no matter how dark today
seems, God continues to move mountains…
Thank you, Reverend King…and Thank you all
for having me here, today.