Happy Merry Martin Luther King, Jr Day
Martin was born on Jan 15, 1929 but monday is the national holiday. Wasn’t easy to get this national holiday and some states still kinda thumb their nose at it but im mighty glad we got it cuz MLK Jr is me hero.
I love him
I love him
I love him
many a days i say “what would martin do?” and the answer always comes back – LOVE. And sometimes the answer is be firm with love but never forget the love part.
Martin was born in 1929 – the same year as Anne Frank – another one of my heroes. A wee thing living in a horrendously unjust time refusing to give up hope in humanity. She A-M-O-S-T made it in 
hiding until the liberation of Holland but the family was betrayed and sent to concentration camps where she A-L-M-O-S-T made it again but then died from typhus.
The true cause of her death was HATRED.
She was 16 years old.
Dear Anne lived on in her words. Her diary has been translated into many languages and is read all over the world and while some will still say it is fabricated and the Holocaust is a hoax – we all know better because Anne did not lie.
“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.” – MLK Jr
Martin was born the same year as Anne and lived a bit longer but died of the same UNnatural cause. He had numerous threats against his life and his family. His wife and daughter were A-L-M-O-S-T killed when someone bombed their home, Martin A-L-M-O-S-T died when he was stabbed and finally a bullet stopped his heart but not his dream.
The true cause of his death was HATRED.
He was 39 years old.
Dearest Martin lives on in his words. His speeches and pearls of wisdom are clung to on a daily basis. His actions and deeds are revered and aspired to. His dream is becoming more and more self-evident and while some may say the power of love is false or lame – we know better because Martin did not lie.
I have been reflecting a great deal on our Judeo-Christian tradition and many other world religions and philosophies and it always comes back to LOVE “loving thy neighbor even if they be our enemy as we love ourselves” and i have wondered that perhaps the root of our problem with civility and our current culture of violence may be not just that we do not heed the first part of this message but that we are lacking in the 2nd part of it which must truly come first. I ask this because i know that when i am lacking in self-love then i do not challenge with love but rather with bitterness or i just avert my eyes to bad things or just go selfish etc
Martin, Malcolm, Anne, Gandhi, Jesus, Leviticus and many others knew we must love ourselves first and foremost – not in a vain and selfish way but in a way that we know there is a greater good we should be contributing too, in a way that our conscience sings, a way in which our heart hears and heyes and then we can truly love thy neighbor and thy enemy and engage in direct confrontation from LOVE when and if needed and spend all the rest of the time just being happy and marveling at how wonderful this world can be with us in it.
oh, and be merry!
Merry Martin Day
Despite all that Anne Frank and Martin Luther King, Jr endured and faced – despite extreme hatred – they were both committed to being extremists of love and hope.
It is sad to think that as the U.S. has become richer, she has become poorer in spirit & spiritually bankrupt.
“We must have the spiritual audacity to assert our somebodyness.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
“So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?” MLK Jr (longer excerpt at this link)
“A lie cannot live.” MLK Jr
“Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.” Anne Frank
“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!” Anne Frank
“A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it–always.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Happy birthday Dr. King – I’m so glad you were born!
Peace,
Patti
More Martin:
A right delayed is a right denied.
A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.
A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.
An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.
Video of Ella Mae Lentz signing part of ML King Jr’s speech re: Death of the Spirit – with footage of MLK speaking with captions
Posted by deafa on January 18, 2011 at 7:21 pm
Thanks for this blog. Hatred is a terrible thing from anyone.
Posted by handeyes on January 18, 2011 at 9:20 pm
deafa
yep as a Angie Suss Paul, a Hearing survivor of the Shoah, always told me and my classes – “Hatred is simply a waste of time”
And as u noted Hatred is a terrible thing… terrible to die from and die with
Thanks for being u
Peace,
Patti
Posted by Dianrez on January 19, 2011 at 3:08 am
Thanks for the postings about inspiring people on your blog. I find refreshers are needed in my life to remind myself of what humanity is about.
Will you post the picture of Malcolm X and MLK shaking hands and the story behind that picture, too? The two have fascinated me as a modern day yin and yang that were on the way to reconcilation before they were prematurely cut off. What might have been…
Posted by handeyes on January 19, 2011 at 5:52 am
Heye Dianrez
oy more homework for me smile
i read a rad book re: Martin and Malcolm
here is a link to the photo u r referring to – this link discusses a play that im unfamiliar with so im not so sure its the best link – folks can just google images mlk and malcolm x
http://www.cwu.edu/~diversity/theMeeting.html
i did vlog a wee bit about that book Martin & Malcolm & America: Dream or Nightmare by Cone
the book is champ champ champ – the vlog is ahhh ughhh – i hate seeing meself on camera -ugh
peace
patti
Posted by ASLElla on January 19, 2011 at 4:48 pm
I’m a couple of days late in reading this but gosh great post! Great reminder! Great inspiration! Praise God/Goddess for your gifts here. Learned a few things ie MLK and Anne Frank having same birthday year. I appreciate those words of truth and wisdom especially when we become increasingly conscious of the prevalance of audism around us and our future Dea children. So easy to become so angry that violence seems the best release. BUT nope we must CONFRONT with love. Often we think to be sweet and loving, we just accept bad behaviors or practices as being the reality or turn our eye away and just be sweet and cool on everyday basis. True we have limitations and we have to tend to our own personal needs and will always be faced with decisions to make if one should acr now or later or let others etc. Ultimately it ll be faith leading our way. Oh dear I’m being carried away so Ill stop here and simply thank you once again for sharing your gifts.
Posted by handeyes on January 20, 2011 at 2:02 am
heye ASLella – thanks for ur comment
and merry martin day – we’s try to make it every day and not just a one day out of the year there, there dearie thing but working til “justice runs down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
really in my eyes – there is nothing sweet about ignoring oppression. i know folks look at folks who act up as “trouble makers”
of late i have had so many labels thrown at me i have gotten a wee bit confused myself
if that side is calling me an extremist and this other side is calling me a traitor and an audist and …
but then i just stop and ask – what would martin do
and the answer always comes back LOUD and CLEAR
even when i dont wanna
l
o
v
e
that is what he done tell me – everyday all day
its me aim – even if im off the mark often
re: faith – well that be my thing lately too
hope, faith and love
re: “oh dear I’m being carried away…” well that is good – that is what the power of love and goodness and faith and hope do for us eh, it carries us away and forward and onward and upward
esperanza de la fe y el amor
peace,
patti
Posted by D on January 20, 2012 at 1:49 am
While MLK is an important figure, I am quite not sure if he would want a day dedicated to him, but rather possibly call it a “Civil Rights Holiday”. This would nicely include those who have fought before MLK. One notable figure is Medgar Evers. I am pretty confident that MLK was standing in the shoulder other giants before he became a giant and enabled all of us to stand on his shoulders our spirit for justice.
D