The White Falcon - 17.01.1986, Blaðsíða 1

NAS observes first Martin Luther King holiday Jan. 20
By J03 Tim Abbott
Although there have been many great men in
America's history, few have had as strong an impact
on as many people as the man who's birthday will be
celebrated as a national holiday for the first time
Monday. Tt* first time a man other than a U.S.
president has been remembered in this way.
Does this quote jog your memory?
"I don't know what will happen now. We have got
some difficult times ahead, but it doesn't matter
with me... because I've been to the mountain top! Like
anyone else, I would like to live a long and fruitful
life. But I'm not concerned with that. I just want to
do God's will , and he has allowed me to go up the
mountian, 1 have seen the Promised Land! I may not
get there with you, but I want you to know tonight I
am not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any
man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of
the lord!," Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., April
3, 1968. King was assassinated the next day.
There is no way to perceive what a man is destined
to become at birth. And certainly no one could
guess that Martin Luther King Jr. would become such
a prominent fixture in American history.
Dr. King began the most influential and
controversial civil rights movement the United
States has ever seen. An elderly lady, Rosa Parks,
is one of the reasons that King began his fascinating
drive for equality. Parks took the first public stand
Please see KING on next page
' Martin Luther, the man behind Civil Rights
By Dwight M. Davis
Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January
15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up with
the Bible as the center piece of his home and, the
words of Jesus were real and meaningful to him.
As a young boy, Martin Luther King loved to sing,
and on many occasions he was invited to sing at
different churches in the city of Atlanta. He
liked to read and he loved words, big words. At
an early age, Martin Luther developed an
appreciation for diverse kinds of literature.
When Martin was in high school, he developed
an extensive vocabulary. Martin was so good at
using words that he was asked to represent his
high school speech team in a speech contest.
Because Martin was so intelligent, and he was
advanced beyond his peers, he was allowed to
skip the 9th and 11th grades. After finishing the
12th grade he entered Morehouse college, he was
15 when he entered.
It was at Morehouse that Martin was introduced
to the writing's of Henry David Thoreou. Thoreou
promulgated the notion if a law is unjust, that
law should not be obeyed. Thoreou called this
idea "civil disobediance." Martin was a young
man who was always concious of the needs of his
people. He was always searching for something
that would help him help his people. Thoreou's
"civil disobedience" was planted in the back of
Martin's mind as a viable means to that end.
Before graduating from Morehouse, Martin
realized that he wanted to be a minister and he
entered Crozer Theological Seminary.
At Crozer Martin spent most of his time
learning, in depth, the teachings of Jesus. He
learned much more about Jesus' love ethic, i.e.
love God, love your enimies, love your neighbor
as yourself. At Crozer, Martin also became
aquainted with the life and teachings of Mahandas
K. Gandhi.
Like Thoreou, Gandhi taught that there are
laws, unjust laws, that must be broken. Gandhi
also demonstrated love for his enimies, not
hate. Gandhi taught that if the enemy attacks you
with violence resist him with love. To Gandhi the
solution to India's problem was to get the British
out; the means to that end was to disobey unjust
laws and even to those that appeared unjust.
Moreover, whether on the offensive or on the
defensive, always act with love as the motivating
factor.
To Martin, the solution to America's problem
in general and the black man's problem in
particular, was to get segregation out; to Martin
the means to that end was an amalgamation of
Jesus' love ethic, Thoreou's civil disobedience
and Gandhi's non-violent resistence.