A birthday for King. . .
by Rep John Conyers, Jr,
D r. King's stature rests on many
other qualities, a singular self-disci
pline and steadiness; an unshakable
fa ith in the basic goodness o f h u
The sovereignty o f the people is
man beings; a single-minded dedica
the central purpose of the American
lion to raising up the lives o f the dis
system o f g o vern m en t. T h a t pur*
advantages; his inspiring and unfor
pose at various limes in our history
g ettab le speech; and exceptio nal
has manifested itself in public p ro
courage. His politics was harnessed
test and petitioning o f our govern
to an overriding m oral force, as he
ment for the redress o f grievances.
led the B irm in g ham m ovem ent in
D r. King was the preeminent leader
1963 to end legal segregation, the
o f popular political action in m od
Selma m ovem ent to w in fu ll p o li
ern h is to ry. In p racticin g n o n -v i
tical rights, and the other campaigns
olent, direct action he em bodied a
o f conscience in M o ntg om ery and
great historical tradition— indeed, a
elsewhere to end segregation in
great Am erican tradition (hat o rig
pub lic places, overcom e housing
inated with the Pilgrim 's settlement
and school discrim ination, and win
in the 17th centry, that continued
w ith the Boston Tea P arty on the
a belter life for all people. History
thrust the young m inister in to the
eve o f the A m eric an R e v o lu tio n ,
leadership o f the M ontgom ery bus
and that in one form or another was
boycott, after Rosa Parks, a young
ex e m p lifie d in the p ub lic lives o f
black woman, returning one evening
Thomas Jefferson and Henry David
from her work, refused to turn over
Thoreau, among other Americans.
her seat on the bus she was tra ve l
In all o f his activities during the
ing. " I f you protest courageously,
c iv il rights m o ve m e n t. D r. King
and yet w ith dignity and C hristian
spoke fo r all people. ‘ Black and
lo ve," D r. King told the assembled
W h ite T o g e th e r— W e Shall O v e r
at the first mass meeting o f the 1955
co m e ,” was M a rtin Luther King's
boycott.
credo to the last. It took some A m
" W h e n the h is to ry books are
ericans a long time to recognize his
w ritten in f u tu r e generations, the
cred o , but it was fin a lly a c k
h istorians w ill have to pause an d
now ledged, as people throughout
say, 'There lived a great people— a
the world had acknowledged it from
B lack p e o p le — who in je c te d new
the beginning, when President L yn
meaning and dignity into the veins
don Johnson joined w ith him and
o f civilization. ’ ”
the other p articip an ts o f the civil
The combination o f a few o f these
rights movement. I do not think it is
qualities w ould en title any in d iv i
an exaggeration to say that Dr. King
dual to a large measure o f respect.
helped change the face o f America.
Yet his greatness reached behond
I am aware that (he public holiday is
even these qualities. The quality that
an honor that, heretofore, has been
above the rest touched the hearts of
reserved o nly fo r presidents and
an e n tire w o rld was his sense o f
great national events. M ay I respect
hope, and his courage in acting on
fully suggest that this honor also be
that hope, whatever the obstacles.
conferred on Dr. King, who was the
In this he reached out to hundreds
leader o f the greatest m odern ex
o f m illio n s o f people whose lives
ample o f popular political action in
were filled, instead, with suffering,
this country, the civil rights revolu
disappointment, and despair. "This
tion.
is our h o p e," D r. King said on the
The heroic dimension
steps o f the L in c o ln M e m o ria l in
August, 1963.
of Dr. King'« life
M a r tin L u th e r K in g , J r ., pos
"This is the fa ith I go back to the
South with. W ith this fa ith we w ill
sessed extraordin ary qualities. He
be able to hew out o f the mountain
was a deeply religious man, the son
o f despair a stone o f hope . la n d /
and grandson o f tw o p ro m in e n t
transform the jan g lin g discords o f
m inisters at whose ch u rc h — the
o u r n a tio n in to a b e a u tifu l sym
Ebene/er Baptist Church in Atlanta,
Georgia— he too became a minister.
phony o f brotherhood. “
H is tra in in g in theology le d 'fr’om
In 1964 Dr. King was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize; the third black
A tla n ta 's M o rc h o o s e t’oflege and
person, tw elfth Am erican, and the
Pennsylvania's Crozer Theological
youngest person ever to achieve this
Seminary through the University o f
supreme world honor.
Pennsylvania and H arvard to Bos
ton U niversity, where he earned a
Going beyond being
Doctor o f Philosophy degree. In his
a black spokesmen
religious practice, in his preaching
In the last years o f his life, M artin
the social gospel— the teaching that
Luther King, Jr., spoke out increas
it is m an's d u ty not only to have
ingly against the war in V ietn am .
fa ith , but also to serve others (ac
M any, including some o f his closest
cording to Luke, " to heal the brok
advisors, questioned his judgment
en hearted, to free the captives, to
set at liberty them that arc bruised” )
in getting involved in this most con
— he help I transform the religious
tro versial issue o f the day. " O v e r
the past two years, as I have moved
life o f the American people and, in
deed. o f peoples th ro u g h o u t the
to break the betrayal o f my own si
lences," Dr. King said.
world.
Dr. King'« contribution
to American Ufa
' 'as I have called f o r ra d ic al de
p a rtu re s f r o m the d e s tru c tio n in
Vietnam. many persons have ques
tioned me about the wisdom o f my
p a th . . . . Prove and civil rights d o n 't
mix. they say----- l a m greatly sad
dened. f o r such questions mean that
the inquirers have not really known
me. m y c o m m itm e n t o r m y c a ll
ing. "
D r. King was an opponent o f the
war because o f its terrible cost in hu
man lives, becaue it threatened to
b ring the U n ite d Stales and the
Soviet Union to the edge o f nuclear
w ar, and because it was destroying
the promise held in "th e war against
poverty," as energies and resources
were being diverted from that struggle
to fight in Vietnam.
Dr. King refused to permit others
to define the issues and the struggles
that engaged his life. He refused to
be typecast as a civ il rights leader
who had no business to question the
government about its foreign p o l
icies. For him the civil rights strug
gle was inextricably linked to justice
and peace. " I am still co n vinced ,"
he said a few months before his as
sassination,
" th e struggle f o r peace a n d the
struggle f o r civil rights as we call it
in Am erica happened to be tied to
gether
I fee l that the people who
are w orking f o r c iv il rig h ts are
w orking f o r peace; I fe e t th a t the
people working f o r peace are w ork
ing f o r civil rights and justice. "
The Civil Rights movement
and justlca
M artin Luther King, Jr.'s tireless
efforts in the north and south were
largely responsible for the vitality of
the civ il rights m ovem ent and the
passage o f the landmark civil rights
laws in the 1960s It may be said that
his counsel influenced Presidents
Kennedy and Johnson in m oving
(hem to w a rd leadership on c iv il
rights.
His last activity, before his death,
was the Poor People's C am p aign .
" W e have developed an underclass
in this n a t io n ," D r. King said in
196«,
" a n d unless this underclass is
made a working class, we are going
to continue Io have problems. The
bitterness is very deep as a result o f
these problems. "
C ivil rights was justice, and ju s
tice c iv il rig hts, to D r. K in g , and
justice was conceived in broad
terms, including economic justice,
the right to a job and the right to a
deceni wage for a job done well. He
went to Mem phis in A p ril, 1965 to
give his support to the s a n ita tio n
workers who were calling for better
conditions.
Dr King and other ministers saw
the need to create an institution that
w ould be strong and respected
enough to conduct the struggle for
ju s lic . The Southern C h ris tia n
I cadcrship Conference (S C L C ) was
conceived is that institution. Its cor
nerstone was the doctrine o f non-vi
olent civil disobedience, the w illing
ness to call in to question unjust
laws, take responsibility fo r one's
actions in doing so, but always to
conduct the struggle on the highest
moral and educational level. M any
fo llo w e rs q uestioned
w hether
change in A m e ric a w ou ld come
about non-violently. " W e must fo r
ever conduct o u r struggle on the
high plane o f d ig n ity and d is ci
pline,” D r. King said at the Lincoln
M em orial in 196.
"W e must not allow our creative
protests to degenerate into physical
violence. M a n y o f o u r w hite
brothers, as evidenced by their pre
sence here today, have come to real
ize that their destiny is tied up with
our destiny. We cannot walk alone.
We ca n n o t tu rn b a c k . . . . N o , no,
we are not satisfied, and we will not
be satisfied u n til justice rolls down
like waters and righteousness like a
mighty stream. "
Dr. King the teacher
L ik e the great teachers b efo re
him, his guiding lights—Christ, Soc
rates, G a n d h i— M a r tin L u th er
King, Jr. engaged individuals in a
process o f seeking after the tru th ,
which necessarily was a process o f
seeking after the good. He was con
vinced o f the basic goodness o f indi
viduals, but he also knew that ignor
ance was w idespread and change
frig htenin g M a n y critics accused
D r. King o f fo m en tin g violence
thorugh his actions. They were un
able to see that the tragic violence
that occurred during the civil rights
struggle did not arise out o f the civil
disobedience o f D r. K in g ’ s m ove
ment, but out o f the conditions o f
anger, antagonism, tension, and vi
olence that existed very close to the
surface o f everyday life . In D r.
King's w ords, the tension that a l
ready existed had to be "exposed,
with all the tension its exposure cre
ates, to the lig h t o f hum an c o n
science and the air of national opin
ion before it can be c u re d ." " Y o u
express a great deal o f anxiety over
our willingness to break law s," Dr.
King wrote a group o f clergymen as
he sat in the Birmingham City Jail in
April, 1963;
" T h is is c e rta in ly a le g itim a te
concern
O ne m ay w ell ask:
'H o w can you ad vo cate b reakin g
some laws and obeying others?' The
answer lies in the fa c t that there are
two types o f laws: ju s t and unjust
...in
term s o f St.
Thom as
Aqwumas. an unjust law is a human
law that is not rooted in eternal law
Any law that uplifts human person
a lity is ju s t A ny law that degrades
hum an p e rs o n a lity is unju st.
One who breaks an unjust law must
do so openly, lovingly, an d with a
willingness to accept the penalty. ”
W hile in jail in Birm ingham, Dr,
K ing said he never felt m ore like
being a full partner in the making of
American law as when he was sitting
in the Birmingham jail.
Lcronc Bennett, the historian and
Dr. King's biographer, has written:
" H is grace, like G andhi's grows
out o f a complicated relation not to
oppression, but to the an cient
scourges o f man. to pam , to su ffer
ing, to death. Men who conquer the
f e r a r o f these things in themselves
acqu ire e x tra o rd in a ry p o w er over
themselves and over others.
Rev
erend M a rtin l.u th er King, Jr., has
taught us not only how to die, but
also, and m ore in m p o rta n llv, how
to live. "
Commemorating Dr. King
M a n in Luther King, Jr's memory
is honoreu in a great many different
ways, at home and abroad. Thirteen
States, as well as most m ajor cities
in the United States, honor Dr. King
eith er th ro ug h pub lic holidays or
days o f observance. In the 94th
Congress both Houses came close to
resolving to have a statue or bust
placed in the C apito l. Because D r.
K in g ’s m emory is honored by peo
ples th ro u g h o u t the w o rld , his
gravesitc in A tla n ta has become a
national shrine at which world lead
ers have paid their respects.
In each Congress fro m the 90th
Congress onward, I have introduced
in the House o f Representatives a
b ill to designate M a r tin L u th er
King', Jr.'s birthday a national holi
day. This legislation already has 105
cosponsors in the 9 6 lh Congress.
S im ila r leg is la tio n sponsored by
Senator Birch Bayh has been intro
duced this year in the Senate, and
has Io d ate 19cosponsors.
We ought to have a way to honor
this hum an being and re a ffirm the
ideals he lived and died for. To hon
or him through a n ation al holiday
w ou ld also, o f course, bestow a
great honor on black Americans and
represent an o ther step fo rw a rd in
reconciling the lives and dreams o f
all the peoples w ho com pose the
A m erican n atio n . Designating his
birthdate a national holiday would
create an event for all Am ericans.
For D r. K ing ch am pio ned justice
and dignity for all Am ericans. He
exem plified a very special ideal in
human history— the ideal o f serving
o n e ’ s fe llo w hum an beings in the
ways o f freed om and ju s tic e. In
teaching us how to live in justice and
freedom, and how to die as well, he
taught us a great deal, indeed.
The Portland Public School District is honored to
join in the celebration of the life of Martin Luther
King. This city's school system takes this
opportunity to reaffirm its dedication to provision of
equal opportunity education and to affirmative
action employment practices. Dr. King's
inspirational leadership is taught in our schools as a
vital part of this country's developing heritage.
The Portland Public School Board moved unanimously in 1968 to
changa the name of Highland Elementary School to Martin Luther
King Elementary School out of reapect for the memory of Dr. King.
(Photo: Richard J Brown)
Portland Observer, January 26, 1963 Page 11
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