Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Revolutionary
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR: A REVOLUTIONARY" by Fahim A. Knight 11/2/07
This is an honor and great privilege for me to write this brief article on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to share my views of the Man and his ideas. I ordinarily ask people, how much do they really know about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?
For example, how he was influenced at Morehouse College (Atlanta, Georgia) by Dr. Benjamin Mays (the president of Morehouse College at that time.). And how he watched his father take on a racist white clerk at a grocery store who referred to his father as a "boy" and his father pointed to his son, whose real name was Michael and not Martin and said, "He is a boy".
It was images and experiences like this that impacted young King's life. Dr. Mays authored a book titled, “Born to Rebel" and King talked about Mays being his mentor and a great influence on his young life.
The Christian theologian James Cone authored various books dealing with Liberation Theology. But he authored a definitive book on King and Malcolm, titled, "Martin and Malcolm and America: A Dream or a Nightmare" which he did a comparative analysis of these two intellectual giants and their revolutionary perspectives. All of Dr. James Cone's works are worth studying for all serious individuals of the clergy and those who are a part of religious schools of thought.
How did attending a white Quaker College in Pennsylvania for graduate school affect young King and his world view? King had transitioned beyond the question of race and understood that class, sexism and racism are all diseases; thus, these barriers have been intentionally set-up by the powers that-be to keep humanity divided.
King replaced a very militant and radical minister at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama named Reverend Vernon Johns and King was thrust into the Civil Rights struggle and movement due to a little black woman named Rosa Parks who in 1955 refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Moreover, the Montgomery Improve Association (M.I.A) chose Dr. King as a voice for the black disenfranchised of the south. Dr. King did not just view the Bible as some spiritual book of dates, events, and personalities, but he made the Old and New Testament relevant to the social, political and economic reality of the struggle of the masses of the people.
Dr. King truly accepted the message of Jesus Christ, when Jesus said, “he who seeks to save his life should lose his life" and Dr. King had conquered his own fears just like Jesus. Jesus was a revolutionary not some passive, or conformist, but like Jesus, King advocated social and political change. So many religious people say they follow Jesus, but Jesus was a revolutionary and a militant spokesperson for the poor, disenfranchised and "have nots"; thus, Dr. King adopt the principles of Jesus who worked on behalf of the oppressed.
King studied Mahatma Gandhi of India and adopted his non-violent civil disobedience tactics as a strategic method to fight racism and discrimination within the United States. King's agitation forced the United States Government to pass the 1964 Civil Right's Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Bill, as well as other legislative accommodation acts.
Now! Many theologians and historians would like for us to believe that the 1963 March on Washington, "I have a Dream Speech" was the defining moment for King's life and miss all the other important aspects of King's legacy. Dr. King was murdered by the United States Government (Federal Bureau of Investigation) on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee assisting garbage workers in their quest for employment equality. How many of us will put our reputation and life on the line for garbage workers; thus, those at the bottom of the social and economic totem pole?
Dr. King in 1967 and 1968 gave a series of speeches titled, "Why I opposed the Vietnam War", in which J. Edgar Hoover; the former Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) targeted Dr. King for assassination, after King became an internationalist and had evolved beyond Civil Rights. The United States Government viewed Dr. King as a dangerous man and targeted him for assassination; please refer to the document titled, “COINTELPRO” a declassified FBI surveillance program that was revealed as part of the Freedom of Information Act. Thus, and in this document it demonstrate how the U.S. Government eavesdropped via wiretap, spied, and used government provocateurs to infiltrate King's movement and inner circle, etc.
They called Dr. King, the most dangerous man in America and labeled him as a communist in order to dismiss him as a relevant black personality. So any speech we give on King in the next month or two and his role in Civil Rights Movement must address some of these issues unless we fall short of representing one of the most important icons of the 20th Century.
We must ask ourselves, what would Dr. King's position be on the United States/Iraq war, Zionism, New World Order, Social Security reform, Gang violence, HIV epidemic, fatherless homes, racism, self-hatred, poverty, religious intolerance, governmental insensitivity, etc., these are perhaps some of the contemporary issues Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would be faced with in 2007.
Lastly, I do not think Dr. King would be siding with the imperialistic government of the United States and its beating of the war drum to attack the innocent nation of Iran; in fact, I think Dr. King would side with President Ahamadinejad and the oppressed people of Iran. Dr. King must be remembered by us as a social activist and the depth of his significance is much more far reaching than the "I Have a Dream Speech".
Fahim A. Knight Chief Researcher for KEEPING IT REAL THINK TANK located in Durham, NC; our mission is to inform African Americans and all people of good will of the pending dangers that lie ahead; as well as decode the symbolisms and reinterpret the hidden meanings behind those who operate as invisible forces, but covertly rules the world. We are of the belief that an enlighten world will be better prepared to throw off the shackles of ignorance and not be willing participants for the slaughter. Our MOTTO is speaking truth to power.
STAY AWAKE UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN,
Fahim A. Knight"
