Marching on ‘til Victory is Won
Growing up in an African Methodist Episcopal Church meant that from birth I was surrounded by people who taught me not only the stories of Jesus and his disciples, but of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders. In my church, MLK Day was just as important as Christmas, and Black History Month was probably more important than Lent.
Learning about Dr. King in the context of a black community instilled in me a sense of pride and determination. I am proud to be an African-American because my ancestors came over a way that was watered with tears, and their stories make me determined to lift my voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring with the harmonies of liberty.
Dr. King inspires me as a leader because he lived his life exemplifying the quintessential Christian message of equality and unconditional love. Dr. King knew that the oppression of African-Americans was too overwhelming, and that the need for justice was too paramount, to have the civil rights movement be just a black movement, or just a Christian movement.
King was motivated to pursue a nonviolent course of action after an inspiring visit to India with Mahatma Gandhi. Activist Bayard Rustin also advised King on the importance of staying the nonviolent course in spite of adversity. Rustin, whose sexual orientation and political ideologies prompted other civil rights leaders to doubt his qualifications, was integral in organizing the march on Washington and was a close friend to Dr. King. And Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Dr. King marched alongside each other to protest resistance to black voter registration in Selma, Alabama.
All of these leaders and champions of justice worked together to change the greatest social issue of the 20th century. Dr. King’s faith did not keep him from working across lines of social construction to achieve his goal. This quality fills me with tremendous hope as a young leader, for I already have an example of what can happen when people come together to provide justice and equality for all.
Working for religious pluralism can be exhausting. Just when you feel the world has reached a new level of acceptance, one single act of hatred motivated by fear can make you doubt whether or not peace is possible. But the more I learn of Dr. King’s story, the more I learn that the trials and tribulations faced along the road to justice only pave the way for an incredibly powerful inevitability. Dr. King dreamed of a world where people are judged by the content of their character. The civil rights leaders brought that dream over the stony road and the bitter, chastening rod and into 20th century. Now I, along with my fellow interfaith leaders, get to face the rising sun in the new day which Dr. King helped usher in and carry his dream into the 21st century.
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