A difficult and demanding theology

c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Here are excerpts, from various sources, of the sermons and public statements of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr: 1955: Civil Rights and history When the history books are written in the future, somebody will have to say,”There lived a race of people, black people, fleecy locks and […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Here are excerpts, from various sources, of the sermons and public statements of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr:


1955: Civil Rights and history

When the history books are written in the future, somebody will have to say,”There lived a race of people, black people, fleecy locks and black complexion, a people who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights, and thereby they injected a new meaning into the veins of history and of civilization.”And we’re gonna do that. God grant that we will do it before it’s too late.

Source: Address at the Holt Street Baptist Church, Dec. 5, 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. Papers, King Center, Atlanta.

1966: Standing with the poor

I choose to identify with the underprivileged. I choose to identify with the poor. I choose to give my life for the hungry. I choose to give my life for those who have been left out of the sunlight of opportunity. I choose to live for and with those who find themselves seeing life as a long and desolate corridor with no exit sign. This is the way I’m going. If it means suffering a little bit, I’m going that way. If it means sacrificing, I’m going that way. If it means dying for them, I’m going that way, because I heard a voice saying,”Do something for others.” Source:”Bearing the Cross,”by David Garrow (Random House).

1968: A quest for justice

The Negro revolt is evolving into more than a quest for desegregation and equality. It is a challenge to a system that has created miracles of production and technology to create justice. If humanism is locked outside the system, Negroes will have revealed its inner core of despotism and a far greater struggle for liberation will unfold.

Source:”Let the Trumpet Sound,”by Stephen B. Oates (Harper & Row).

1968: The rising storm

The storm is rising against the privileged minority of the earth, from which there is no shelter in isolation or armament. The storm will not abate until a just distribution of the fruits of the earth enables men everywhere to live in dignity and human decency.

Source:”Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero,”by Vincent Harding (Orbis).

April 4, 1968: Final sermon

Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness than ever before. Let us stand with a greater determination than ever before and let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge, to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation and I want to thank you and I want to thank God for allowing me to be here with you.

Source:”Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero,”by Vincent Harding (Orbis).

MJP END RNS

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