Martin Luther KIng - A Dream Deferred

While I’m still in the process of putting the appropriate words in the precise places to describe my experience with the recent Sago mine tragedy I must also admit that I suffer from procrastination and this contributes to the delay.

My condition would most assuredly be protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act which was passed a decade ago were it not for the debilitating nature of my disability, the same condition experienced by a numberless number of fellow procrastinators. You see, we can’t even organize a group to articulate our demands that should have been proclaimed ten years ago. Such is existence for the procrastinator.

Nonetheless the Sago tragedy produced an unpleasant flashback that took 50 years to be fully grasped and now that it is I must choose wisely the words that will express an idea that doesn’t die of loneliness.

In the meantime I honor the memory of Dr Martin Luther King Jr by sharing with you some personal impressions then providing you the essence of his message in his own words:

I find absolutely it incredulous that we honor this man much like we honor the Christ child with celebrations that are planned for well in advance of the one special day until next year and the one thing we overlook is the message. It’s a variation on a theme where one blames the messenger for the message. In this particular instance however one praises the messenger but the result is still the same – the message gets lost in the shuffle until next year’s speeches. Perhaps one could more wisely use the time it takes to blame or praise the messenger by remembering the message of those who believe we can all live together in peace then making a commitment to creating a better place to live.

Before I share Dr King’s words one last perception – I didn’t listen to all of Vice-President Al Gore’s speech today which took the Bush Administration to task for creating a constitutional crisis. What I did hear impressed me for example when he diplomatically reminded us that Dr King Jr was the subject of government surveillance and thereby exposed the hypocrisy of George Bush who celebrates Martin Luther King by appearing to read (the press I read said he “viewed” which makes more sense) Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation while he violates the Constitution to spy on “terrorists” as defined by the executive branch of government.

We the people are responsible to remember that the executive branch of our government declared Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to be a “communist sympathizer” and subjected him to a lifetime of illegal searches and wiretaps authorized by an executive branch with the same predisposition to abuse power to define what a “terrorist” is today.

What I didn’t hear was that which should have been spoken to honor Dr. King’s courage to speak truth to power – “There comes a time when silence is betrayal” (Martin Luther King). And that quote should have been repeated for those who didn’t get Dr. King’s message the first time – silence is complicit in the betrayal of the American Revolution.

So much for personal thoughts – I now present the essence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of nuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality."

"But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we mush not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence."

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal”.

and oh yeah -

“There comes a time when silence is betrayal” - Martin Luther King