AltBrothers

I come to this magnificent house of worship tonight because my conscience leaves me no other choice. I join with you in this meeting because I am in deepest agreement with the aims and work of the organization which has brought us together: Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam. The recent statement of your executive committee are the sentiments of my own heart and I found myself in full accord when I read its opening lines: “A time comes when silence is betrayal.” That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.

In retrospect, these words spoken by the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on April 4, 1967 at the Riverside Church in New York City, are like the opening strains of a musical procession which would conclude a year later on April 4, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. The coincidence is eerie.

Here we are at the 41st and 40th anniversary of the two Aprils. Coincidentally, there is another black man who has spoken out against a foolish war and for change. And today, there are not a few people praying for his safety and the safety of his family, loved ones, friends and associates. The prayer safety net spreads wide because of what happened over 40 years ago, before King was assassinated.

What we know now is that more than one person was involved and the guilty walked free while the framed took the fall. We know this as the solidifying story of the nature of the beast which spans ages; that nature is twisted mix of pride, fear, greed and violence. That beast nature is what created the inhumane working conditions which the black Memphis sanitation workers were forced to endure. It is the pride and violence which caused King last airplane flight from Atlanta to Memphis to be heavily guarded and baggage and spaces to be heavily checked for items of ill-will. The beast nature is what set itself up to wear down the leaders of good-will and to antagonize and push to extreme the frustrated energies of the Memphis youth. We see this formula at work this very day in the Democratic Primary.

And after 40 years, we see it at work in the wordsmithing of reality where MSN can ask on its website “How far has America come in the 40 years since Martin Luther King’s death.” “Death”? This wasn’t a stroke, heart attack or deadly disease (thought MLK did argue this case regarding racism, violence, greed and other ills). Let us remember what happened in our words. We are 40 years removed from the organized and truth-hidden assassination of a man of faith who sought to inspire the outcast, give voice to the oppressed and bring the conscience of a nation to the point of changing deep-rooted, persistent and pervasive injustices and in doing so, change from the path of sorrows which lay ahead.

It was the beast nature which didn’t care, which hunted and killed this man who tried to make the world a better, and non-violent place. After 40 years, we must insist that this truth become front and center in our thoughts and conversations about those last 365 days which culminated in April 4, 1968.