Northern Overexposure
  • Home
  • Musical Interludes
  • Blog
  • Contact Me

Martin Luther King assassinated 44 years ago today

4/4/2012

0 Comments

 
44 years ago, today, April 4, 1968 Rev. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. An inspiration to millions of people around the world including me, Martin Luther King's non-violent civil rights movement remains a testament to effective social justice. While the scars of race and other social divisions remain, we should keep the dream and hope alive. The day before his assassination he prophetically delivered his promised land speech. The speech was in Memphis and the context of the speech was a strike by sanitation workers.  It is almost chilling and in retrospect you can see traces of grace.

In that speech, he alludes to the prayer "on earth as it is in heaven" and connects the work here below, with the work above. He talks about our responsibility to not just reflect on the world to come but the implications of our work in this world. The long white robes over yonder is an allusion to angels in heaven. The new Jerusalem is an allusion to the end times when there is a new heaven and new earth.

It's all right to talk about "long white robes over yonder," in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here! It's all right to talk about "streets flowing with milk and honey," but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do
.

What follows is the last part of that now famous speech.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    My Pensées

    The title of this blog is an allusion to the famous work of Blaise Pascal.  This blog represents the variety of my interests and thoughts on any given day and are  strung together, like Pascal's Pensees, in no particular order. I work in the field of mental health and education. I write and am a social justice advocate. I enjoy poetry, jazz, spirituality, politics and a potpourri of other interests that you will see reflected in this blog.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.