Martin Luther King Jr & Freedom from Oppression

21st of January 2008

Martin Luther King Jr & Freedom from Oppression

Today the nation celebrates the life of an inspirational man who taught the United States that oppressing its people was the wrong thing to do. Martin Luther King, Jr was not just the co-Pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia, but to many he was the conscience of the United States until his death April 4th 1968.

We have shared in the presences of some truly great people who have left their mark on Americans as well as the world: Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Rosa Parks, Jefferson Davis, Benjamin Franklin, Emma Willard, Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe and far too many to list in this blog, but each added to the colorful landscape that makes the United States so dangerous and so wonderful. These American heroes stood against the establishment of their times and in the face of oppression. They stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the worlds most famous leaders against ternary with little to offer but their words that shielded them from the armies they faced with a determination that was consummate. The world needs to heed the lessons from out past when equality is denied a people from an oppressive monster that would rather beat, kill and control instead to LOVE, HONOR & RESPECT their fellow citizens for their differences as apposed to their commonalities will only beget them defeat.

Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Mahatma Gandhi, Hafsat Abiola, Dalai Lama, Alice Paul, Boutros Boutros Ghail, Mother Teresa and many others took up the struggle to end oppression and injustice while in every case leading their supporters away from violence as a means to bring attention to their fight. They were truly better people than those stripping them of their freedoms because while justified in the use of weapons against their oppressors, they showed a mighty side to the human face – the shield of peace will always be mightier than the sword of injustice. It is amazing how many times the world has written the same story in the blood of those being shackled and chained with injustice, oppression and tyranny from our earliest forms of writings via pictures and hieroglyphs; oppressing humans can only garner you desired outcomes for so long. Those who are oppressed will eventually rise up beyond their shackles and chains and on the wings of doves turn those monsters that chained them in to regretful men and women.

Martin Luther King, Jr was just such a man. I stumbled many times trying to write this post because there is nothing I can add to the accolades written by far better people than me. He was a gift from heaven as many people of the times called him the conscience of America bringing about change in a time of great instability. His call to action came only with a message of peace because he understood that showing the world how the few would take bats, mallets, guns and ropes to a group who shouted the words of peace and freedom with each step they took garnered more support to their cause than if they met their oppressors with sheer violence equal too or greater than the brutality that met them in the shadows of darkness. If you read every speech the man gave us, you can see that he stood for equality for all people. He never once segregated people, denounced any one or would enable anyone to be less than what each and every person was already – a human being who deserved and had twice been granted the freedoms in this great nation. He only wanted equality for all and liberty to be blind to everything but the injustices affronted citizens of this country. Read some of the words by the great man who gave so much to free those who were denied their rights to be treated equally:

“as a great beacon light of hope to millions who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice”



“still languish in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land, So we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition”



“In a sense we’ve come to our Nation’s Capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”



“But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.”



“We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.



Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.



Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of justice.



Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.



Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”



“The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”



“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. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”



“No, no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”



“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow. I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”



“With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.”



“This will be the day; this will be the day when all of God’s children are able to sing with new meaning “My country’ tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring! And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.



So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.



Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.”



“And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last”.

When does this great nation and all of its inhabitants learn from the lessons of our past? When do we learn the lessons from our ancestors and grant all citizens the same rights that were granted upon the foundations of this country? When do we see love for that which it is and not something of filth to be oppressed because it doesn’t match your vision of love? Homosexuality is on a collision course with mainstream America because of the intolerance and injustices afforded gay men and lesbian women.

When you tell me I can’t love the person with whom I’ve fallen in love because it is not as you see love needing to be displayed; you are committing the same crimes against humanity that oppressed the black persons in America.

When you tell me I can’t love the person I’ve fallen in love with because it is not as you see love needing to be displayed; you are committing the same heinous crimes fought against by Nelson Mandela in Africa.

When you try to dictate my life and deny me the same rights our fore fathers granted each and every one of us; it is you who stands on the side of wrong and sooner rather than later, you’re denial of justice to me will lead to you to disaster.

This does not have to be about right and wrong, because you can make it about what is right by simply acknowledging the civil liberties that you deny me. This does not have to be about right and wrong, because liberty has always been victorious in the end!

Each person who cleaves to a Bible or a holy book claiming homosexuality is wrong, should leave the judgments to God and let me live my life in peace with honor and justice just as you wish to live your life. If my life is so wrong and against those within the pages of your books, let them judge me when my days comes to an end and until then; grant me the same rights you claim for yourselves. Equality does not come with choices of whom and when; equality is for everyone. When you deny my equality, you deny yourself the peace you rightfully deserve.

I have a dream today

I have a dream that one day all men, women and children are treated equally!


GAY RIGHTS = HUMAN RIGHTS

Your Humble Servant – Todd M. Dobson