By Rev. Mark William Ennis
2024 Blog #3
January 15, 2024
Finishing the work of Dr. King
Today we celebrate the life, and mourn the death of, Dr. Martin Luther King. Most people that I know refer to this day as “MLK day.” No matter what we call it, it is good that we celebrate his birthday and the work he did during his short life. He was horribly murdered when I was nine years old, and he was only thirty-nine years old.
I remember the fear that white adults had of him when he made speeches, supported civil rights, called for voting, and fought against discrimination. Whites who were in power largely liked the system that was in place and feared losing power if black people were given equal rights. He, and his movement, scared a lot of powerful white people.
I grew up thinking that Dr. King was all about race and racial relations. It was only later in my life that I realized that his causes were much more than that. His major concern was violence, and he made many enemies when he preached against the Vietnam War. For him, economic oppression and discrimination were simply other forms of violence used against people. In this aspect, his work is like that of Gandhi, whose work he studied.
Today, as we celebrate Dr. King’s birthday, I hope we will celebrate the gains that have been made in civil rights, even though we still have a long way to go. Perhaps there is no legal discrimination, but we still have, I am told by black friends, small acts of aggression against them. They tell me that despite being well dressed and professional there are still times when they are looked at with suspicion in certain places. These same friends report that there is a reluctance among white people to invite black people into their homes. According to them, discrimination used to be legal and systemic, now it is largely subtle and done by individuals. The technical term is “micro aggression.”
Dr. King’s work was not always about the macro and systemic. He also addressed the individual work that each person could do for others. He encouraged people to do good works for one another.
In 1957 he made a speech in Montgomery, Alabama and in his address, he is quoted as saying, ““Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others? ‘” What are we doing for those in our neighborhoods and communities who need our help? I pose this for all of us to consider.”
To honor Dr. King, today and every day, we ought to ask ourselves the question, “What are we doing for others?”
What are we doing for others? Let us carefully and sincerely ask ourselves this question today.
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