10th of January 2010
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR
Freedom from Oppression
The nation celebrates the life of a truly inspirational man…Martin Luther King, Jr taught the United States that oppressing people is always wrong. He wasn't just the co-Pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia, to many he became the conscience of the United States until his death on April 4th 1968.
We have shared in the presences of some truly great people. These men and women 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. Each added to the colorful landscape that makes the United States so dangerous and yet so wonderful. These American heroes stood against the establishment of their times as they face oppression. They stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the worlds most famous leaders who fought against ternary with little to offer but their words that shielded many from the armies they faced. Their determination was consummate. The world needs to heed the lessons from our past. When equality is denied to a people by an oppressive monster that would rather beat, kill and control instead of to LOVE, HONOR & RESPECT; the world looses for all. We must learn that our fellow citizens should not be judged by their differences, but rather to seek out our commonalities.
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 leading their supporters away from violence – just as one of our favorite sons in Martin Luther King, Jr. 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. If we learned anything, it should be that oppressing humans can only garner you desired outcomes for a temporary period of time. Those who are oppressed will eventually rise up beyond their shackles and on the wings of doves; turn those monsters that chained them into regretful people.
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 greater people than me. He was a gift from heaven, as many people referenced him as the conscience of America, who brought 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 shouting the words of freedom with each step they took, garnered more support to their cause than if they met with due force. They could have chosen to use violence equal too or greater than the brutality that met them in the shadows of darkness, but true greatness is never brought about by force. If you read every speech the man gave, you can see that he stood for equality for all people. He never once segregated or denounced any one group for any cause. He sought to enable everyone to be exactly what they were already – a human being who deserved the twice granted freedoms by 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 denied their rights to be equals:
"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 do the inhabitants of this great nation learn from the lessons of our past? When do we learn 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 affronted gay men and lesbian women. Shall the congregations of this great nation not learn the lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr?
When you tell me I can't love the person with whom I've fallen in love, simply because it is not as you see love. You are committing the same crimes against humanity that oppressed the black persons, women, the Jewish people in Nazi Germany and in Egypt and so many other atrocities.
When you tell me I can't love the person I've fallen in love, you are committing the same heinous crimes fought against by Nelson Mandela in Africa.
When you try to dictate my life by denying me the same rights our fore fathers granted each and every one of us; it is you who stands on the side of wrong. Sooner rather than later, justice will prevail leading to your 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 with DOMA Bills and passing state constitutions defining marriage between a single man and a single woman. 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 holy book claiming homosexuality is wrong, should leave the judgments to God, and let me live my life in peace, with honor just as you wish to live your life. If my life is so wrong and against God, then let me be judged when my days comes to an end by the only soul truly capable of judgment - God. Until then; grant me the same privileges to live my life peacefully as you claim for yourselves. Equality does not come with choices for whom and when; equality is for all. When you deny my egalitarianism, 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
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