Memphis - Democratic Underground

H2O Man

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Thu Apr-03-08 03:33 PM
Original message

Memphis

"Now, what does all of this mean in this great period of history? It means that we’ve got to stay together. We’ve got to stay together and maintain unity. You know, whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite, favorite formula for doing it. What was it? He kept the slaves fighting among themselves. But whenever the slaves get together, something happens in Pharaoh’s court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. When the slaves get together, that’s the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity. …

"Now the other thing we’ll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people, individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively, that means all of us together, collectively we are richer than all of the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? …. That’s power, right there, if you know how to pool it.

"We don’t have to argue with anybody. We don’t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don’t need bricks and bottles …..

"Now there are some practical things we can do. …we’ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point, in Memphis. We’ve got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together. ….." –Martin Luther King, Jr.; I See the Promised Land; Bishop Charles Mason Temple; Memphis, Tenessee; April 3, 1968.

It was 40 years ago tonight that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered one of the most powerful speeches in American history. Most progressive and liberal democrats remember the haunting ending of that speech, in which Martin spoke about the threats of death that he was under. Yet he was not backing down.

It is important that we take the time to not only reflect on the life and death of this great man, but to consider his message. The above quote, while not as well-remembered as the end of the speech, was the central message: we need unity. We need to stick together. We need to find common ground. "Either we go up together, or we go down together."

Tonight, CNN has a two hour special on Martin on at 9 to 11 pm est. There will be other programs and articles, as tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of his death. I’m sure that other DUers who are my age are thinking about the events of that long-ago time.

We hear people say they wish that Martin was here today. I think that way sometimes, too. I enjoy listening to my recordings of his speeches, reading the texts of his books, and the many biographies that I have. I wonder what might have been, if he and Brother Malcolm had been allowed the time to combine their efforts, as that was the direction they were headed. Yes, I wish Malcolm were here today, too.

There is a powerful scene at the end of the Spike Lee movie, "Malcolm X." Nelson Mandela is standing in the front of a classroom of school children. One by one, they say, "I’m Malcolm X!" And they are telling the truth.

If we want to know what it would be like if Martin were here today, we need only make an honest and sincere effort to put our minor differences behind us, and to try to create a united front. "You need to be there. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together."