5 things:
1. Alan Grayson, my favorite congressman from Florida (and no, he's not MY congressman, though who is?) sent an email in which he quoted some highlights from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s letter from the Birmingham Jail. The letter was first published 50 years ago tomorrow. Here are some parts I especially like.
2. "...although I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."...Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God."...So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?"
3. "One day the South will recognize its real heroes." [N.B.: Please don't hold your breath....]
4. [Among the heroes] "There will be the old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy-two year old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up...and responded..."My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest."
5. "Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty."
No comments:
Post a Comment