What a contrast to the war-justifying speech Barack Obama gave in Oslo when he accepted his own Nobel Peace Prize! And what an inspiration for all of us to keep working, each in our own ways, to help make King's more transcendent "dream," that of a true revolution of values, especially the anti-capitalist value of compassion, a reality some day.
We must remember Dr. King's transformative speech as we celebrate his birth and life this week. His vision of a planet peopled by humans who value justice and compassion and each other more than shiny, expensive objects and the power to dominate or exclude or exterminate others, is a vision worth striving for more than ever as our nation struggles to restore what is left of democracy here, and as our species struggles with the global climatic consequences of its addiction to extreme materialism, racism, and militarism.
Remember what he said: "There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood."
2010 is the year we must begin to live his words, and to meet the challenge he gave us nearly 43 years ago. His true legacy lives on in the way we must now live our lives, and continue his struggle to make that long-overdue "true revolution of values" a reality.
We can no longer rely on delusions and distractions such as Obama, or the Pentagon, or Democrats, or Republicans, or pundits, or the media, all of whom have vested interests in maintaining the morally corrupt, inhumane, violent, self-destructive, and insane status quo which now threatens us all. It is solely up to us to continue his great work. And we must, if we care about the future.
"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
- Frederick Douglass
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