“And another reason that I'm happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we are going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn't force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today...”
Martin Luther King Jr.- April 3, 1968- “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” Speech
“For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill with -- be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.
But we have to make an effort in the United States. We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond, or go beyond these rather difficult times...
...What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.” Robert F. Kennedy- Indianapolis, Indiana April 4, 1968- “On The Death Of Martin Luther King” Speech
On Saturday, April 9, 1988, I impulsively went into The Book Rack near my home in Irving, Texas so that I could add the dust from a plethora of old books to the ragweed clogging my nose. As I walked around a corner of the bookstore, I noticed a book called To Seek a Newer World , by Robert F. Kennedy. I guess all those episodes of The Wonder Years were getting to me, because I took this forgotten piece of my childhood from the shelf and immediately purchased it. It’s one of the best purchases I ever made. To Seek a Newer World was my door to the events of April 3-5, 1968. I believe that April 3rd through April 5th, 1968 were the greatest 48 hours of public speaking in the 20th century.
My Favorite Quotes From RFK’S To Seek A Newer World
“The first task of leadership, the first task of concerned people, is not to condemn or castigate or deplore, it is to seek out the reason for disillusionment and alienation, the rationale of protest and dissent- perhaps indeed to learn from it.”
“Our answer is the world’s hope; it is to rely on youth- not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.”
“Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.”
Stephen Sondheim
“Minor art expresses only the specifics of reality; each day is different, & so is each artwork. Great art, however, expresses fundamental reality through its specific manifestations. This gives the work of the great artist a continuity which that of a minor artist lacks.” Peter Roberts
The April 3rd-4th Speeches of MLK and RFK as Art
I believe that real art does not care about political party, income level, race, religion, or any of the myriad ways that we sometimes choose to divide our world. Real art breaks down and transcends every vestige of separation that divides us. If my definition of art is correct, then the speeches that Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy gave on April 3rd and April 4th, 1968 qualify as works of art.
Do you agree that these speeches qualify as works of art?
“...We don't have to argue with anybody. We don't have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don't need any bricks and bottles. We don't need any Molotov cocktails. We just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, "God sent us by here, to say to you that you're not treating his children right. And we've come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where God's children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.” Martin Luther King Jr.- Speaking to striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee on April 3, 1968- “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” Speech
“Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.
For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter.
This is the breaking of a man’s spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man among other men. And this too afflicts us all.” Robert F. Kennedy- April 5, 1968-Cleveland Club, Cleveland, Ohio “Mindless Menace Of Violence” Speech
Expanded Definitions Of Poverty and Violence
Dr. King and RFK both expanded my definitions of poverty and violence. While many of us may have never experienced poverty, violence on the streets, or even racial discrimination, I believe that all of us have experienced poverty and violence in some form.
A friend of mine, who has been wealthy her entire life, describes the environment she grew up in as emotional poverty. She says that she would gladly have traded away her families material wealth for the attention from her parents that she witnessed many of her middle-class and working-class friends receiving.
“Students learn that positive thoughts lead to positive actions, which lead to positive feelings about yourself, which then lead back to positive thoughts. They also learn that negative thoughts, actions, and feelings follow the same cycle to make them feel bad about themselves. This Thoughts-Actions-Feelings Circle is the basis upon which students learn positive behaviors for the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional domains.” (Positive Action website, “Violence and Bullying Booklet.”)
Research by UW-Madison psychologist , Dr. Richard Madison suggests that emotion regulation deficits may be a smoking gun in impulsive violence. So, violent internal thoughts may not only damage us, but may lead to acts of violence against others.
What is your definition of violence? What is your definition of poverty?
It will be a great day when the words that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy spoke on April 3rd and 4th, 1968 are no longer relevant. Unfortunately, that day may not come in the lifetimes of any of us reading these words.
QUESTIONS FOR TODAY
“Ah Wolfe can't see
Ah that's no good
He can't see the tree
For the wood” (Steve Kilbey)
1. Am I seeing the full picture? Am I seeing the world as it really is?
Martin Luther King went to Memphis to speak, despite the death threats he received. Robert F. Kennedy was warned by then Mayor, Richard Lugar, that it was too dangerous to speak in the African American part of town after King’s assassination because of the potential for a riot- Kennedy spoke on the night of April 3, 1968 anyway.
2. Will I do what is right even if there is the threat of injury or death?
I think that King’s and Kennedy’s speeches are timeless.
3. Will what I am doing with my life add meaning to the world in 40 years?
Dr. King’s Christian faith was prevalent in his message in Memphis. (I believe Senator Kennedy’s Christian faith was present in his speeches also, even if he did not explicitly make a statement of faith.)
4. Do I take my faith into every situation I encounter in life?
LINKS
Three minute video clip of Dr. King’s “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop.”
The first ten minutes of Martin Luther King Jr.’s last speech. (Photos, but no video.)
RFK’s “On The Death Of Martin Luther King” video.
Text of RFK’s “On The Death Of Martin Luther King.”
Left, Right, And Center Video Of Mindless Menace Of Violence-
To quote RFK, “This is not a day for politics...” The author of this video, does an excellent job of presenting all sides of the political spectrum in a positive manner to the words of “The Mindless Menace Of Violence.”
“Mindless Menace Of Violence Unplugged.”
I love Emilio Estevez movie “Bobby.” I’m not sure why Mr. Estevez, chose to “pump up” one of the greatest speeches ever, by amping RFK’s voice and adding strings to his speech at the end of “Bobby” though. I like the “raw version” of the speech better. (This link is the full speech, audio only.)
ON A LIGHTER NOTE-
The Top 15 singles from the first week of April 1968:
“(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” by Otis Redding
“Young Girl” by the Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett
“Valleri” by the Monkees
“La-La Means I Love You” by the Delfonics
“(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone” by Aretha Franklin
“Cry Like A Baby” by the Box Tops
“Lady Madonna” by the Beatles
“The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde” by Georgie Fame
“Love is Blue” by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra
“Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro
“Might Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)” by Manfred Mann
“Simon Says” by the 1910 Fruitgum Co.
“Scarborough Fair/Canticle” by Simon & Garfunkel
“Dance To The Music” by Sly & the Family Stone
“Kiss Me Goodbye” by Petula Clark
The Top 10 albums from the first week of April 1968:
The Graduate by Simon & Garfunkel/Soundtrack
Blooming Hits by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra
Aretha: Lady Soul by Aretha Franklin
The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme by Simon & Garfunkel
Valley of the Dolls by Dionne Warwick
John Wesley Harding by Bob Dylan
Disraeli Gears by Cream
Axis: Bold As Love by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly soundtrack
I hope that this post is useful to everyone who reads it. Please leave your comments below, or contact me directly. (My contact info is in the sidebar.)
Thanks for stopping by! Bill
Comments