Seeing as how Martin Luther King, Jr. is listed as one of my heroes, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my favorite words of his. This is part of a letter he wrote while incarcerated in Birmingham Jail in 1963.
" I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, Wait. But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos: Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading white and colored; when your first name becomes nigger, your middle name becomes boy (however old you are) and your last name becomes John, and your wife and mother are never given the respected title Mrs.; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tip-toe stance never quite knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of nobodiness; then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience."
3 comments:
He was a great man - mightily used of God to make a real difference in our country. I look forward to meeting him someday! And on that day all of MLK's dreams will be a reality - we will finally all be at peace with one another and experiencing perfect love. What a day that will be!
I watched a great documentary about him this week. I remember when he died - I was a very little girl and I didn't know who he was. But I remember the emotion that swept our country and I remember how shocked my parents were. I remember that it was on the tv for days. I remember sensing the uneasiness, pain, and unrest that took place following his asassination. It was a difficult time - as young as I was - I knew that. He has always been a person that I think got the whole race issue right. And in my opinion it was because it was balanced with his relationship with God. He was doing the right thing and more than that - it was a calling upon his life - it was what he had to do. I have always had great respect for him.
Thanks for sharing this Tara, the words of MLKJ are still so relevant today, as so many colored people still struggle in terrible poverty. I hope that in our lifetime we will see a dramatic change and rebalancing in our country.
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