A Reflection on the Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by  Jean Lindsey

Several of us from the Social Concerns Forum were able to attend part, or all, of the MLK schedule of events on Monday January 16^th here in Denver, Colorado. The morning was cold, and chill, but the spirit and purpose of those who were gathered there, lent a sense of warmth and anticipation to the events to come. The life of MLK was celebrated and remembered. Yet the tasks that remain to be accomplished, if any real sense of enduring peace & justice are to be realized, were emphasized as well. Martin Luther King, Jr., was very aware of this, and he voiced his disappointment in the “silence” of well -meaning individuals who often told him that he was moving “too fast.” Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke eloquently in his “Letter from A Birmingham Jail” that proponents of his “methods” had no sense of empathy or understanding of what he & his followers were dealing with on a day to day basis. The scenes on TV were brutal – the fire hoses, the beatings, and the yells & curses from those who did not want people of color to engage with them in any manner – be it in the schools, the churches, the buses, or whatever. But what has become so apparent to me in these last few years, is that although the open hatred persists in many ways, there is also a deeper & perhaps more subtle form of injustice, of which I was very unaware.

And that involves areas of inequity in housing, schooling, intergenerational wealth, ability to obtain viable employment, etc. Terms such as systemic racism and white advantage or privilege have become common, yet such labels remain very controversial, if not down right offensive to some. It is very hard at times to realize what some of our brothers & sisters have lived through, sometimes on daily basis, and that their reality is very, very different from ours. As much as I felt a deep concern & empathy for the openly hateful behavior directed towards people of color during the Civil Rights movement, I was completely & totally oblivious to the ongoing impact on these same people because of the many injustices that have been perpetuated in our society. So, it is with humility & indeed some sorrow, that I re-read the words of MLK, Jr, when he says, “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.” So, I know that I must keep listening & learning. But that is not enough. We must find ways to act that benefit all of us, as Christians who follow a Savior who commanded us to “love one another.”