Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today is the birthday of Dr Martin Luther King Jr., probably the singlemost influential American Black man of the 20th century.

Without the work that he did as leader of the struggle for Black emancipation in the 1950s and 60s, work carried on by people like Jesse Jackson, we would not have had the first Black President of the United States.

But Dr. King's influence, especially his espousal of non-violence (directly borrowed from Mahatma Gandhi), has a far greater resonance for all peoples everywhere.

One thing that is forgotten about him is that he championed the rights of poor white folk as well, which brings me neatly to what John Denham has had to say about race and class yesterday.

I have always argued that there is much much more that unites in this country than divides us, and that while there may be minor and superficial differences evident in colour and creed, nevertheless what unites us (a sense of fair play and natural justice, rooting for the underdog and standing up to oppression, a visceral dislike of privilege and a belief in meritocracy) is a far more powerful force to be harnessed for the general commonweal.

I can do no better than to quote some of my favourite bits from Dr. King's "I have a dream speech", delivered on 28 August 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.:
* I have a dream that my... children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.

* I have a dream that one day... the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

* We will... hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope... transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood... We will work together, pray together, struggle together, stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

* Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

* Let freedom ring... to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, 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!