MLK: “We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”

[omega minimo]

“The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.”

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.



The Children of the Dream grew up with Popeye and Captain Kangaroo and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The Children of the Dream grew up with Batman and the Monkees and the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. The Children of the Dream grew up with Petula Clark and the Summer of Love and The Doors and riots and The Supremes and the assassination of Martin Luther King.

The Children of the Dream had buses pulling up at the school bringing classmates from poorer neighborhoods to the other end of town. The Children of the dream had a best friend of another color and there was a angry, scary, violent kid of another color in the same class.

The Children of the Dream rocked out to Jackson Five and Beatles and Edwin Starr WAR- HHUHH- WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR-- and Grazin’ In The Grass Is A Gas Baby Can You Dig It?

The Children of the Dream had Viet Nam firefights and deathcounts on the TeeVee screen and Laugh In and MASH and HEEHAW.

The Teenagers of the Dream had Watergate and journalism class and Motown and Stax and FM radio in the days before EVERYTHING was corporatized and compartmentalized and demographically packaged.

The Children of the Dream absorbed with the air they breathed the action, the activism, the energy, the messages of the day. The Personal Is Political Where Have All The Flowers Gone If You Ain’t Part Of The Solution You Part Of The Problem Both Sides Now Give Peace A Chance The People United Will Never Be Defeated Instant Karma’s Gonna Get You.

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”

“Put yourself in a state of mind where you say to yourself, "Here is an opportunity for me to celebrate like never before, my own power, my own ability to get myself to do whatever is necessary."

The Children of the Dream swam in this kaleidoscopic medium where one thing reflected another and everything was connected and everyone was too. There was still a sense of nationhood. Commonwealth.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

“One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.”

The Children of the Dream grew up and were followed by a legion of Alex Keaton’s and Maddonawannabes who were too young to know that “Morning In America” was the dawn of the Big Lie that delivered President George Dubya Bush in the long, dark night of America’s soul.

“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”

“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.“

“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.”

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

There followed the Corporate Branded generations totally wired all the time who think that there’s nothing racist or sexist about calling someone “ghetto” or “ho.” While they probably judge someone by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.

“If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in the struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.”

And still Martin Luther King’s Dream lives on-- lives on in all of us. Wherever we are in the timeline, whatever our cultural moment, whatever our lingo, we hear his timeless words and we are ALL reborn.

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

“Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.”

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.


Rest in Peace Martin. Rest in Peace Coretta.

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Neither pure makers nor pure made: both rather

I prefer: “Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given, and transmitted from the past. The traditions of the dead generations weigh like a nightmare on the brains of the living." - Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte

[omega minimo]

2. "circumstances directly encountered, given, and transmitted"

during the Assassination Era are embedded in us all.

"The traditions of the dead generations weigh like a nightmare on the brains of the living."

I chose, on this day to honor Rev. King, to focus on the life of the Dream and not the Nightmare we are living.

"Neither pure makers nor pure made: both rather"

I tried to convey in this OP the sense of personal responsibility that was ingested with the air of the era.

:thumbsup:

[omega minimo]

3. I was surprised there weren't more threads honoring MLK yesterday

Esp. after the lousy treatment of Cindy McKinney---------- to me it looked like DU had made itself look unfriendly and white-centric.

I honored Dr. King here because I felt it and wanted to share the sense of deep lessons carried through time.................. not to be an apologist for occasionally clueless white attitudes; I did that in GD with fair warning that it was with tongue in cheek and dry humor..........apparently tho, we can't laugh at ourselves.

I'm really very deeply sorry.

:hi:

[zann725]

4. What an amazing post...and quotes by MLK. As a Child of Dreams...

Having personally come of age during that era...in retrospect, I (like many of us), had no idea that such "light" would not continue forever...expanding humanity and good for all.

To all those too young to actually have lived through this era... those come-of-age on 'reality TV,' "manufactured news," and role model shows like "Survivor"..."The Apprentice" and at least FIVE too many "CSI's"...I feel deep, DEEP pity at the "passion" for Truth and Compassion you've been deprived of in your formative years.

Thanks much for the post, "Omega."

[omega minimo]

5. "...had no idea that such "light" would not continue forever"

....snuffing it out was the point of assassination. Martin knew he was in danger of that day that came 38 years ago. He knew that he was leaving us a legacy of words.

"The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be... The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

He knew that he was speaking to the future and to the children of the day, who were living that dream of black and white children going to school together, playing together, knowing each other, growing together................

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent."

Martin Luther King, Jr.