Martin Luther King, Jr. & Masters of War

“We must all learn to live together
as brothers or we will all perish together as fools.
We are tied together in the single garment of destiny,
caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And
whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. “

–– Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speech in Memphis, April 3, 1968,
on the day before he was assassinated.

Notes: This is an updated page inspired by the words and works of Martin Luther King, Jr. His life is tied in to all our lives, representing what is best for our nation and world. My friend Tonya on facebook wrote: “I’m thinking of the King quote I posted the other day. I try to remind myself of it when I get the rolled eyes, the heavy sighs, the angry comments, the attitudes, people yelling at me furiously from their car windows, the two women who stormed out of meetings because I had the audacity to suggest that animals’ suffering & lives matter (and one has a cat whom she loves and whom I’m quite sure she would never boil alive–go figure), the guy in the semi truck screaming, the hatefulness, the “if you don’t like it here in the U.S., leave” crap, etc. The quote? “Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.”

Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech “Beyond Vietnam.”

April 4th, 1967 at Riverside Church in New York.

[EXCERPT]

“..This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. This oft-misunderstood, this oft-misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man.

When I speak of love, I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response, I am not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. I’m speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the First Epistle of Saint John: “Let us love one another; for love is God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. If we love one another God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”

Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. As Arnold Toynbee says, “Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word,” unquote.

We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity. The “tide in the affairs of men” does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: “Too late.” There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. Omar Khayyam writes, “The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on…” We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation..”

Transcript of speech is also available at antiwar.com by David Bromwich.

“The greatest purveyor of violence in the world:
My own Government, I can not be Silent.”

– Martin Luther King Jr.

“It is no longer a choice between violence

and nonviolence in this world;

it’s nonviolence or nonexistence..”

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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22 Nov. 2023 – Streaming – Press & Public
FOUR DIED TRYING
A Feature Documentary Series
Explores the extraordinary lives and calamitous deaths
of President John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, the Reverend
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy
Watch a Sneak Peak of this series HERE!

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The following is about the day after Martin Luther King was assassinated. I posted this in an issue in 2008. Following that story and poem are updated resources for honoring a soul speaking-living truth before power.

FREE AT LAST-

The day after Martin Luther King, Jr. died
By Jonathan Mark
April 3, 2008

April 5th 1968 was a strange day. I felt in a fog going along Ocean Parkway to Church Avenue to take the bus to school. The fleeting memories of trolleys were now replaced by puffs of diesel smoke; I had to learn to hold my breath as I crossed the street. My mind rambled along with the bus with images blurred by television news. The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded me of the JFK assassination. What was going to happen now to the debate between Malcolm X and Reverend King, and with the Vietnam War escalating, it could make any kid uncertain about a future.

School seemed too normal at first, but before long fire bells rang, which sprung us into action; we were quickly led out of school. While passing through campus word spread faster than fire – a smoke bomb was detonated in the ventilation system. We wondered if school would resume, but something unusual occurred. On the same side of Flatbush Avenue as the school remained only Black students, all other races, crossed the street. It was hard to resist; I reluctantly crossed, but yearned to convey my feelings of loss to my friends and football teammates.

Across the street I found that I did not belong there either. Some racist remarks (half under breath) were all I needed to take off, and crossed the Avenue diagonally to give myself space from both groups. I found a comfortable car to lean on, and was thankful to be alone with thoughts drifting on the nonviolent struggle. When I looked up I saw an enormous group rounding the corner. It was another mass of students coming in my direction. At first I thought they must be coming from the Bedford Avenue side of campus, but the numbers were too great. An army of students approached, I did not know what to do. A wrong move could spark violence. I stayed where I was by the curb, which was about five yards from where the marchers passed in front of me. Some were astonished, curious, smiling, seeing me there. I noticed BOYS high lettering on some jackets. We played this team from Bedford-Stuyvesant and got crushed to put it simply. But to me it made sense to hold a demonstration at our multiracial school the day after a special civil rights leader and Reverend was assassinated.

Thousands passed with no incident, but then one student arched in my direction. I didn’t want to resist, so I closed my eyes as he came upon me, his right arm crossed my face, but with my adrenaline pumping I felt no pain; but great relief to see my assailant continue strolling down the sidewalk. But then, I almost jumped out of my skin; this big black guy from my side grabbed my arm. Wow, it was Kenny Wright, my football team captain and best tackling linebacker I ever knew, and a friend. He seemed urgent in asking me what happened, did I do anything? “No” and before I could say another word, he pulled me and said to follow him. I was so thankful for being with a friend that I was slow in realizing the danger I was entering. Ken walked quickly leading into the large group of accumulating students in front of the Erasmus Hall gates. I started having my doubts, especially when thousands closed in around us. There was a strange silence that took over.

With Ken at our sides I faced the same student who struck me. I could see the look of his surprise, shock, and curiosity. After a pause, with tension building, Ken simply said, ‘He’s an okay dude.’ We sustained eye contact. I felt humble, open, and empty. After a while his eyes brightened, he relaxed, and put out his hand. I slapped him five and a burst of relief “all right” sounds rippled through us all. I went around the inner part of this circle sharing fives, feeling elated, tension broken, and when I came around to Ken, he said it would be best if I left. I understood there was a need for this group to unite in its own identity. I thanked Ken and headed home. Nothing violent followed from what I heard, while many cities erupted into violence that day. At Erasmus Hall the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. was with us. Kenneth Wright graduated that year and the next season his brother Frank and I were co-captains of the team. It was our best year too, 6-wins 1-loss, and we learned from a coach that often told us that what we learned on the football field could be used throughout life.

Recently I learned that on the night of 4 April 1968, Robert F. Kennedy addressed a crowd in Indianapolis, Indiana. He said, “My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: ‘In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.’ What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.”

FREE AT LAST

Can a seed wither into the dust of despair and 

can a man speaking out with righteousness 

really die; was not Martin Luther King Jr. wise?

 

My life is inspired by a few and to these 

I congratulate and continue

to breathe the air and receive its gifts,

nourishing the cells with a spiritual lift.

But when confusion enters into the night

we must go to the center of love not fright,

for in ideals of freedom we will last forever,

in realms of wisdom, loving one another.

 

Life is thus, a series of attitudes

bringing peace war or feuds,

but by keeping the dignity of what is right,

we cannot be discouraged by

 a brother’s soulful flight.

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“He who learns must suffer
And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget
Falls drop by drop upon the heart,
And in our own despair, against our will,
Comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. “

— Agamemnon

This was quoted by Robert F Kennedy in his speech announcing the
assassination of Martin Luther King on 4 April 1968; and the epitaph
his family inscribed on his grave marker in Arlington National Cemetery.

Video – Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights – 5:02

Indianapolis, 1968: Bobby Kennedy,

Martin Luther King

and a historic call for peace

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Resource Links

04 April, 2018 – Report – James Corbett
Truth At Last: The Assassination
of Martin Luther King, Jr.

06 April, 2018 – Global Research – Craig McKee
The Plot to Kill Martin Luther King:
Survived Shooting, Was Murdered in Hospital
Review of William Pepper’s Book

12 January, 2016 – Washingtons Blog – Carl Herman
Martin Luther King assassinated by US
Govt: King Family civil trial verdict

15 January, 2021 – Global Research – Dr. Gary G. Kohls
MLK’s Warning – America’s Spiritual Death

18 January, 2015 – Democracy Now! – Amy Goodman
Newly Discovered 1964 MLK Speech
on Civil Rights, & Apartheid South Africa

16 January 2012 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
Martin Luther King, Jr. in His Own Words

26 May, 2014 – Democracy Now! – Amy Goodman
Remembering Vincent Harding,
the Civil Rights Activist Who Wrote
MLK’s Speech Against Vietnam War

04 April, 2013 – Democracy Now – War and Peace
On 45th Anniversary of His Death,
Martin Luther King Jr. on the Power
of Media and the Horror of War

03 April, 2013 – RSN – Carl Gibson
How the Government Killed
Martin Luther King, Jr.

16 September 2009 – Youtube – samueltube1
Masters Of War
Written By Bob Dylan
Performed by Sam Bradley

13 January 2012 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
Two Years After Devastating Earthquake, Haiti’s Re-
building Weighed Down by Legacy of Foreign Meddling
13 January 2012
On Eve of MLK Day, Michelle Alexander & Randall
Robinson on the Mass Incarceration of Black America

11 January 2012 – Youtube – MsNoworldorder
NASA, Hypocrisy & the Military Industrial Complex

10 January 2012 – Democracy Now! – War and Peace
Guantánamo Exclusive: Former Chief Prosecutor,
Ex-Prisoner Call on Obama to Close Prison
10 January 2012
NDAA: Obama Signs Law Restricting Transfer
of Prisoners and Expands Indefinite Detention

09 January 2012 – Democracy Now! – William Hartung
Drones, Asia and Cyber War: Pentagon Shifts
Priorities; Budget Still Exceeds Bush Era
07 January 2012 – Youtube – LedaOhio5
Warning Graphic Footage!

03 January 2012 – World Socialist – Patrick Martin
Obama signs police state legislation

29 March 2010 – Democracy Now! – Amy Goodman
Tavis Smiley on Rev. Martin Luther King
and His Opposition to the Vietnam War

March 31, 2010 PBS aired Tavis Smiley’s
MLK: A Call to Conscience

11 March 2010 – Democracy Now!
Legal Scholar Michelle Alexander on
“The New Jim Crow:
Mass Incarceration
in the Age of Colorblindness”

05 January 2011 – Democracy Now – War and Peace Report
DNA Evidence Frees Texas
Prisoner After 30 Years
FN Resource:
Human Rights and A Nation
Behind Bars: the buried
talents of a population.

Transforming Health-care and Criminal Justice
Not-for-Profit Healthcare and Prisons good for USA!

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“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds
of despair, and when our nights become darker than a
thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a
creative force in this universe, working to pull down
the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able
to make a way out of no way and transform dark
yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize
the arc of the moral universe is long
but it bends toward justice.”

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

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27 April, 2023 – FN – Jonathan Mark
Football – COVID – Death & Awakening

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04 May, 2021 – Youtube (55:18) – Netflix – Will Smith
Amend: Fight for America

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