by Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice
We have just said farewell to someone who will go down in the annals of history as a remarkable human being – Sir Ellis Emmanuel Innocent Clarke. I hope the momentum will be maintained as we think about ways of honouring him.
Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr Day. King, the great American Civil Rights leader, is another “light to the nations”. To echo what Archbishop Gilbert said at NAPA about Sir Ellis, King was a man who epitomised love of God and love of neighbour. As a Baptist Preacher, his Christian faith was the driving force in his life.
When we remember the time in history when King lived, we recognise the courage it took for him and those in the American Civil Rights Movement to stand up for what they believed; to strive relentlessly to combat racism and to promote equal rights. His philosophy of non-violent resistance was informed by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. His trip to Gandhi’s birthplace in India in 1959 had a great impact on him. He said in a radio interview in India:
“Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of non-violent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity.”
In today’s world of individualism, we must never forget the power of collective action to transform society. God created us to journey through life in community. If we accept this then we will realise the truth in King’s words: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
This should spur us to action. As King said, “…all life is interrelated…somehow we’re caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”
He was an amazing orator. Here are some more of his powerful words: “There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression.” “How long will justice be crucified and truth bear it?… however difficult the moment…however frustrating the hour, it will not be long…because truth crushed to earth will rise again.” “…the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” “My friends rise up and know that as you struggle for justice you do not struggle alone, but God struggles with you.”
In celebrating King’s life take some time to read about the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and about the 1963 March on Washington – for Jobs and Freedom – where he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech to over 250,000 people. Read some of his books, sermons and speeches; his Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963). Read the speech he made when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was the youngest person to receive this prize – “for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means” (Wikepedia).
King opposed the Vietnam War and was one of the organisers of the “Poor People’s Campaign” in 1968 – seeking to promote economic justice. Sadly, at 6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Some time before he died he had said that at his funeral:
“I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others….(I) tried to love somebody… I did try to feed the hungry…to clothe those who were naked…to visit those who were in prison…I tried to love and serve humanity.
“… if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness…”
His life and work continue to inspire me to forge ahead in the struggle to build a world in which we can all live as God intended. Will you join me and become a drum major for the Lord?
