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“We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.; Letter from Birmingham City Jail
In the past week, I have spoke of the need for those who King called the “creatively maladapted” to begin to use this time to organize on the grass roots' level. As the letter quoted above notes, the potential for real progress will not come by the way of moderate efforts to bring about change. I am convinced that it requires the hard work of the democratic left, together with our allies on the progressive left.
A good friend on this forum asked me what, in my opinion, King might be doing in this day and age? I can only speculate, of course. We do not have any individual of King's stature to lead people of good will today. I suspect that King might encourage us to boycott the sponsors of the right-wing republican hate radio and television. Were he here, such an effort might be more easily organized, because Martin Luther King had a genius for such things. He also had a capable staff, who were instrumental in creating the form for his inspiration.
I have been giving this a good deal of thought in recent days. Indeed, both yesterday and today, I've been in communication with a journalist from a magazine that sells internationally. He contacted an associate, looking to talk to me about the on-going conflict in Sidney, N.Y., where the Town Board had targeted a tiny Sufi farm settlement. Three members of that board are Tea Party activists, who decided to “protest” the proposed Islamic mosque near “Ground Zero” in New York City, by forcing the Sufi people to remove Islamic burials from a Sidney cemetery. I was asked by Sidney residents to help organize the resistance to the STB; the journalist wondered where I got my inspiration from? The answer to that, of course, is Martin Luther King.
It's a curious situation. Sidney, perhaps more so than any other town or city, is a microcosm of the United States. Almost all of the good and bad one might associate with our country can be found there. More, so can most all of the very good and very bad. The town's government has long been run by conservative business “leaders.” These leaders have only shown concern for a very limited segment of the population – their families and business partners. The political, social, and cultural leadership has always been, for lack of a better term, inbred.
In recent years, three rabidly conservative Tea Party activists have taken control of the republican party, and become entrenched on the Town Board. While not particularly bright or capable, they are angry and busy. As King often noted, those with a negative agenda tend to make better use of time than do people of goodwill. The amount of damage that they have already done to that town is considerable.
The opposition is only beginning to become organized in any meaningful manner. And while many of the people active in this effort are intelligent, they lack the confidence to fully trust themselves to be capable of engaging in the level of struggle necessary to save the town. This is, of course, the one area where I am focusing a lot of my efforts. I'm happy to say that two individuals have announced that they are running for office in the community. And, both have asked me to help organize and run their campaigns. This is something that I have a pretty good track record on.
I am not, however, a typical political operative. Although I am able to work with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and political beliefs, I have my own approach. And a significant part of that is based upon my admittedly limited understanding of the lessons of King and others. It would be easy for me, for example, to have a serious dislike for those Tea Party activists. I don't mean a strong dislike for some of the things that they do. That, I have. But I make a conscious effort to not allow a strong personal dislike to take root. First, that's not who I want to be. Also, it could only have a negative impact on my ability to accomplish my goals, because strong negative emotions contaminate all of our being.
I do not expect anyone else to share my religious and/or spiritual beliefs. My friends who are atheists have about the same value system that I do; and so do my friends with different religious/spiritual beliefs and practices. I respect everyone's right to hold to what works for them in this area. But, as I have previously noted on this forum, I like to pray and meditate, and do so as part of my planning and preparations for political and social activism. And, in doing so in this past week, something occurred to me.
We do not have anyone of King's stature or influence today. So we have to start organizing with a greater intensity at the grass roots level. It could be something like we're doing in Sidney. It could be with an environmental group, perhaps fighting frack drilling, or mountain top removal for coal. It might be working for equal human rights for gay and lesbian people. It might be advocating for the victims of child abuse, domestic violence, or jail reform. And there are many, many more options.
Each of these works is helping to build a strong foundation for social and political justice. When I was young, I used to work on foundations for houses. That helped pay my way through college. It was hot, heavy, difficult work. Much of it was literally underground. No one driving by could see what I was doing. No one said, “Good job!” Knowing I was doing a good job was internal. But the carpenters would not be able to build a nice house, if I didn't lay that strong foundation.
The Civil Rights movement was the same way. Most people do not know the names of those who labored for decades before King and the bus boycott. But those people laid that strong foundation, which the Civil Rights movement built upon in the 1950s and '60s. It was hard, dirty work. No one driving by said, “Good job.” But those men and women knew the value of their efforts.
I'd like to think that some day soon, old activists like myself will see some young man or young woman take up the mantel of King, or of the other great leaders. Better yet, to see a large segment of a younger generation channeling that same strength and goodness. But it will not happen – in fact, it cannot happen – unless people like you and I get down in the ditches today, and get busy.
Peace,
H2O Man
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