In memory of King

Today we honor the life and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a compassionate leader whose life was tragically cut short 40 years ago today.\nOn April 4, 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. Though he was only 39 years old, he had already dramatically changed the landscape of life in America.\nKing is most famously remembered for his leadership in the civil rights movement, particularly his role in the Montgomery bus boycott, non-violent protests and sit-ins in Birmingham, Ala., and the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom where he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.\nBut King was also a vocal critic of poverty, unjust working conditions and violations of workers’ rights. At the time of his death, he was fighting for the sanitation workers in Memphis and calling for strikes and boycotts until their hazardous and unfair working conditions improved. His attitude toward economic exploitation is evident in his quote: “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” \nNear the end of his life, King combined his work for civil rights, economic equality and nonviolence with his opposition to the war in Vietnam. He believed “America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube.” He viewed the war as “an enemy of the poor” and argued that any “nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”\nWhile we might not all agree with each of King’s views on economics and foreign policy, we certainly respect that this remarkable leader worked tirelessly for human rights and strived to make this country stronger.\nEach of us can also find ways to continue his compassionate work and “stand with a greater determination” in order to seize upon every “opportunity to make America a better nation,” as King exhorted in his “I See the Promised Land” speech. \nDespite our various political views and commitments, King’s work reminds us of our shared responsibility to one another, our “inescapable network of mutuality” where “whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Therefore, King calls us “to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation, for those it calls ‘enemy’” because nothing should “make these humans any less our brothers (and sisters).” \nForty years after King’s voice was abruptly silenced, we can carry on his drive to strengthen our country and world. Following his moral philosophy, we must avoid the selfish question, “What will happen to us if we help those in need?” but instead ask ourselves, “What will happen to them if we do not stop to help?” \nWith such compassion, we are all capable of improving our world together. What better gift for a King?