Pursuing The Complete MLK

Today I have the honor of doing a virtual presentation for the University of Rochester about King’s legacy.

My stance is simple:

King’s legacy has been photoshopped to the benefit of the United State’s reputation.

Let’s remember (or discover) on this day some things about King.

KING’S SPIRITUAL LIFE FUELED HIS SOCIAL JUSTICE LEADERSHIP

“Great theologians when they've talked about God, have usually gotten around to the point of saying that even God works towards integration… Whenever we think of God, we think of a being working to bring the disconnected aspects of reality into a harmonious whole.”

Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution Speech, 1968

KING’S WALK AS A CHRISTIAN DIDNT PREVENT HIM FROM FINDING COMMON GROUND WITH OTHER RELIGIONS

“Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door, that leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu, Moslem, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first Epistle of John: ‘Let us love one another, for God is love.’”

Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam, Speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church

KING PROPHESIZED AMERICA’S SICK DEPENDENCY ON TECHNOLOGY AND MATERIAL THINGS

“We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism (economic exploitation), and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

The Three Evils of Society Speech, 1967

KING WAS DESPISED BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

“What is that goddamned nigger preacher doing to me? We gave him the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we gave him the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we gave him the war on poverty. What more does he want?”

President Lyndon Baines Johnson, in response to King’s anti-Vietnam War speech, 1967

HOW CAN WE CONTINUE TO KNOW KINGS TRUE LEGACY?

• Read King’s Own Words

  • Why We Can’t Wait

  • Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?

  • Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story

  • Strength to Love

  • The Radical King (Edited by Cornel West)

• Check Out The Documentary “Citizen King”

• Check Out This Teaching Tolerance’s “Teaching Hard History” Podcast Episode: Teaching the Movement’s Most Iconic Figure

May we learn from the man who sacrificed everything.

PEACE AND PROGRESS!