In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr Day, I was planning on writing a piece about Dr. King’s impact on US culture. But in reading some of his speeches, I was struck by how relevant his words still are today. Forty-three years after his death, history is once again repeating itself:
“The mood in the…community…is a mood of great disappointment and despair and even bitterness as a result of the slow pace of progress and as a result of the fact that in some instances, things have gotten worse, particularly in the economic area. And I think the impatience is very deep and the discontent is very broad and if something isn’t done … then I see us sinking into darker nights of social situations.”
“…The best way to resolve the problems is to work through peaceful, non-violent means…we either need to have peaceful co-existence or violent annihilation.”
“The war is…so futile and bloody and costly that no one should be fighting there…. We are on the losing end both there and at home because as long as the war in Vietnam continues, social programs will inevitably suffer here at home…”
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death”
This time we find ourselves in not one, but two (more…)
