Today is the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968). This past year saw the opening of a new memorial dedicated to the clergyman and reformer who fought for the civil rights of American citizens throughout his career.
The kids have the day off school, so I thought we should learn something new about Martin Luther King Jr., together. Today's quest took me to Alabama, March 1965. A first march to the state capital was met with an police attack using tear gas and bull whips. A second march was arranged to go from Selma to the site of the attack in Birmingham and there Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most powerful speeches of his career. Taking a look at that speech today, what stands out for me is the Biblical reference to Jericho and his invocation of the lives lost - martyred, we Christians would say - to make the final push forward to win voting rights for African Americans in a law signed by President Johnson five months later.
A bullet may have cut his life short, but Dr. King's voice is still speaking to us today. Listen...
There is nothing wrong with marching in this sense. The Bible tells us that the mighty men of Joshua merely walked about the walled city of Jericho and the barriers to freedom came tumbling down. I like that old Negro spiritual, "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho." In its simple, yet colorful, depiction of that great moment in biblical history, it tells us that:
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, And the walls come tumbling down. Up to the walls of Jericho they marched, spear in hand. "Go blow them ramhorns," Joshua cried,"'Cause the battle am in my hand."
These words I have given you just as they were given us by the unknown, long-dead, dark-skinned originator. Some now long-gone black bard bequeathed to posterity these words in ungrammatical form, yet with emphatic pertinence for all of us today.
The battle is in our hands. And we can answer with creative nonviolence the call to higher ground to which the new directions of our struggle summons us. The road ahead is not altogether a smooth one. ....
...My people, my people, listen. The battle is in our hands. The battle is in our hands in Mississippi and Alabama and all over the United States. I know there is a cry today in Alabama, we see it in numerous editorials: "When will Martin Luther King, SCLC, SNCC, and all of these civil rights agitators and all of the white clergymen and labor leaders and students and others get out of our community and let Alabama return to normalcy?"
But I have a message that I would like to leave with Alabama this evening. That is exactly what we don't want, and we will not allow it to happen, for we know that it was normalcy in Marion that led to the brutal murder of Jimmy Lee Jackson. It was normalcy in Birmingham that led to the murder on Sunday morning of four beautiful, unoffending, innocent girls. It was normalcy on Highway 80 that led state troopers to use tear gas and horses and billy clubs against unarmed human beings who were simply marching for justice. It was normalcy by a cafe in Selma, Alabama, that led to the brutal beating of Reverend James Reeb. ...
...I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because "truth crushed to earth will rise again."
How long? Not long, because "no lie can live forever."
How long? Not long, because "you shall reap what you sow."
....
How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
How long? Not long, because:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat. O, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant my feet!Our God is marching on. Glory, hallelujah! Glory, hallelujah!Glory, hallelujah! Glory, hallelujah!His truth is marching on.
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