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Dr. King called ‘most distinguished’ in U.S. history Page 1 Vol. 8, No. 37 They remember Dr. M.L. King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr., as the leader of the civil rights movement in the United States, helped break down the barriers erected by segregation. But before Rosa Parks was arrested for sitting in the front He met hate with peace... By RALPH DAVID ABERNATHY As his dearest friend and closest associ ate (King began his final speech in Memphis by saying, “Ralph David Abernathy is my dearest friend and clos est associate I have any yjhere in the world”), I would say that this giant of a man was truly the ST Sn most peaceful warrior of the 20th century. z X ■- I came to this con elusion through my very close association and t, i daily work with Martin ■& y all the.way from Mont gomery to Memphis. f This covered a span of Abernathy 14 years. He came to Montgomery in the spring of 1954 to pastor the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, and I was already there pas toring First Baptist. Our close friendship and association began on his first day in Montgomery around the dinner table in my home. It closed only when he died in my arms in Memphis on April 4,1968. When Martin first came to Montgomery, everything was segregated. So all of our so cial and recreational life took place in our homes. At that time, there was no freedom movement. Therefore Martin and his wife, Coretta, and my wife, Juanita, and I would spend all our evenings in our homes. We talked about building a new social order free from racial segregation, discrimi nation and all forms of inequities. We planned the movement, you might say. We were both socially minded pastors. And we talked about the movement and how we were going to change things. We didn’t know exactly how or when, but we would talk about when the time was right, we were going to start the movement. A lot of people thought Martin was a weakling. But he was not a weakling. He did n’t choose nonviolence because he was a weak man. He was the strongest little man I knew. I mean he had real strength in his muscles. And he loved food. He really enjoyed eat ing. I remember one evening Juanita served some homemade ice cream. And Martin said, "Oh, Juanita, we can solve the race problem If we just give (Gov. George) Wallace some of this ice cream.” Jesus of Nazareth said, “The meek shall inherit the earth" and “Be thou faithful until death and I will give thee a crown of life.” Martin was meek and faithful. The Rev. Ralph David Abernathy is president emeritus of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He served in this position from King’s death in 1968 until he stepped down in 1976. If alive today, he’d tell movement to March on’ By JULIAN BOND Dr. King co-taught a survey course in Klosopby at his alma mater, Morehouse Col e, with the late Dr. Samuel Williams, I was one of fewer than 10 Students. The younger King had earlier been Wil liams’ student at More house. In turn, each would read a selection from Plato or Locke or Aristotle or Aquinas and then lead the few of us in discussion. But each class quickly degenerated—in the nicest way—into a discussion of the philosophy of the civil rights movement, of King’s role and leadership in it, with Williams serving as interlocutor and King as respondent and explainer. They even argued, quietly, Rev. Williams Aitytwfa Nma-Steii jm JgL Or S’.:■* ‘ a ‘ . a&glMgSw, v ' V ’'WMr c- I n/ His dreams proved more powerful than Politics By JESSE L. JACKSON How could one man so touch and alter the American conscience in such a short life? How could such an ordinary man do so much? And that is what Martin Luther King Jr. was: an ordi nary man. Do you remember his sF W«3t ordinary origins? A public t ** 1 school student with parents jfl who taught the principles of a conservative life. A man who, for most of his life, was noted Mg neither for his social con science nor perfection in ius own life. QBgßiMagiC Martin Luther King Jr. IHI learned the power of discipline Jackson many times and in many ways. He began disciplin ing his mind as a student at Morehouse College. His mastery of himself next led him to Boston Univer- challenging slyly and King answering slowly, softly. Sam Williams was known on the More house campus as a man no one could win an argument with; his mind was too quick and full. So this class became a class in “move ment,” and laid before us two of the greater minds I will ever know. This extraordinary man remains a hero to millions. His picture appears in more homes in Black America than any other his torical figure except Christ I like to think that Martin Luther King alive today would still keep on pushing us—to march, to protest to question, to grow. Few men make much difference in our lives. This one did, and his like will not be seen again. Julian Bond is a member of the Georgia State Senate and president oi the Atlanta Chapter of the NAACP. Bond Friends, colleagues pay tribute to Dr. Richardson Page 2 Salute to Martin Luther King's 50th birthday P.O. Box 953 of the bus in Montgomery, Ala., King was the son of a minister trying to find his way. As he became a symbol for social change through nonviolence, there was an opportunity for those who knew and sity and to his doctorate in systematic theology. He was always hungry to know more. Up to the week of his death in Memphis 10 years ago, he read at least one book a week and not books of entertainment, but of substance. One day during the bitter and terrifying days of the demonstrations in Selma, Ala., I remember, I saw three books in his briefcase: one on Thoreau, one by the theologian-thinker Paul Tillich and a third on the life of Gandhi. In those years of reading and thinking he had mastered the theory, art and practices of non-vio lence that Gandhi’s life exemplified. But Dr. King never forgot who he was, and so be delicately blended the ethnic, the ethical, the economic and the Eternal to make his own for midable contribution to nonviolent change. Thousands have adopted the methods Dr. King perfected most especially those of confrontation politics, practiced today by such diverse interests as farmers, gays, browns and women. Daddy, first and last By MARTIN LUTHER KING 111 as told to Alexis Scott Reeves A lot of times, the question has been raised about what I think of my father as a national leader or as a symblol of nonviolence, and I always give the same an- swer No matter how great he was or what great things he did, the only way I’ll ever be able to perceive of him is as a father first. Whenever he was with us, whether it was 20 minutes, 30 minutes or 24 hours, he always de voted 100 percent of his attention to - us. And that's how we were able to accept his commitment to his work. You know, everyone always thought he was so serious. Well, I guess he had to appear that way to the public. But when he was with people who knew him and when he was with us, he was jovial. He used to tell jokes. Daddy was really funny. "Marty” was 10 years old when his father was killed. He is now . senior at Morehouse College majoring in po litical science and theology. Paine Co T> • 1 1235 15 Preside Augusta * racists have no place on his staff Page 3 January 20,1979 But it was his principles that gave his methods their power. I heard him discuss the choice he had: to be political, which is to be expedient, or to be prophetic, which is to be morally activated. He never yielded on this. He remained a public opinion molder and never became a public opinion leader that is, someone who reads the polls to find out where to lead. And he did it, this ordinary man. He did it so well that his stature came to overshadow that of the presidents of his day. Martin Luther King Jr. won a Nobel Peace Prize and the admiration of many world leaders, but all that he really wanted was to continue to prove that the dreams of ordinary people are more powerful than any politics. Jesse L. Jackson is a former official of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. After King’s death, he established the Chicago-based civil rights group People United to Save Humanity. i' Marty King worked with him to know a side of Dr. King that was not shown to the public. Here are selections of their recollections of King, the man. (From the Atlanta Constitution) Grave issues deprived him ; of chance to ‘spice ’ talks ' 3 By JOSEPH E. LOWERY Martin Luther King’s rich sense of humor hardly came through in his addresses and public statements. The grave issues he addressed, the critical nature of the period, and the serious attention given his pronounce ments combined to deny him the luxury of the uspal humor utilized by public speakers to “spice” or “dress up” their remarks. Nevertheless, he possessed a rich sense of humor which was Lowery characteristically warm, loving and never de signed to humiliate or ridicule. He loved to tease his friends, and seized ever,’ oppor tunity (few as they were) to engage in “hors ing around” with them. Less than 75% Advertising ...As century’s true militant By HOSEA WILLIAMS as told to Alexis Scott Reeves I want to talk about Martin Luther King Jr. the militant. He was the truest militant I ever met. He not only talked that talk; he walked that walk. Unlike Malcolm X, who would expound on his black consciousness W in the black havens of . Harlem. Martin would Httt' return to the battlefield to face the Pharaoh. When Martin fin- MEfer ished his speeches in the Mrsto. ’SS Harlems or in the south side of Chicago, he was e always willing to come down off that mountain Williams and go back to the valley and face death. When Martin met me, I was a big official in the NAACP field offices in the South. I got all these memorandums from up in New York about how to get free. And here was Dr. King leading the marches and showing people how to get free. I knew then that I was going to go with him. There is a definite effort on the part of America to change Martin Luther King Jr. . from what he really was all about— to make him the Uncle Tom of the century. In my mind, he was the militant of the century. A lot of those pseudo-militants said he was afraid and shy and uncertain and unopin ionated. But that was not true. I was with this man on a couple of occasions that I had so much fear the flesh trembled on my bones. One time in Selma, we were supposed to march from the Brown Chapel Methodist Church to the courthouse to face (Sheriff) Jim Clark. as we got close to the courthouse, there was a mob spitting and cursing, and Dr. King kept walking. Clark came out of the court house and walked right down the steps and got in a car and left. This shocked everybody. Right then I knew something was funny. Then one of Clark’s deputy’s came out and made Dr. King move off the sidewalk, and I realized they were trying to get him ar rested. Then someone else came over and told me there was a mob of white men waiting in- ; side the courthouse. We tried to get him to get in the car, but he said, “No, I’m going to walk.” Well, he , turned and crossed the street and walked right up to that mob across the street. They all got so quiet. All the cursing and shouting stopped. He said, “Excuse me ! please,” and they parted like the Red Sea opening up for the children of Israel. * Hosea Williams is the executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Confer- ! ence and a member of the Georgia State ‘ House of Representatives. t The demands on his time and leadership permitted too few such occurences but did , serve to provide much-needed relief from the v tension created by the series of crises which .- punctuated his career. His genuine love for persons came a through in his humor, which was usually F related to actual incidents and not in jokes and. fictitious tales. He gave others a new t sense of worth by the very fact that he cared e enough to kid them and knew enough about k them to do so. His humor was consistent with his status and calling and was never “shady.” It made t j him all the more attractive to those who , knew him and admired him. Likewise, he could take a tease and b would roll with laughter when friends retali- P ated with loving jibes. The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery was chairman K of the board of the Southern Christian Lead- s ership Conference before becoming its president in 1976. SIS Sample Copy Spftpd* office burned, arson is charged Page 3 President for holiday for Dr. King By MALLORY MILLENDER ATLANTA - President Jimmy Carter pledged Sunday to support the move to make Martin Luther King’s birthday a national holiday. “I particularly hope that in this 50th anniversary year that I will be able to sign a bill making Jan. 15 a national holiday in honor of Dr. King,” he said. The President said Dr. King called out the best in people. “We can now speak out as a nation with one voice on the sensitive issue of human rights all around the world because Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement helped to liberate all Americans from the chains of official racism here at home. “Had he not lived, had his voice not been heard, had his actions not prevailed, it would now be an embarrassment for the United States to mention the word human rights in international councils.’” * See “KING” Page 2 Dr. Gloster King most distinguished American Dr. Hugh M. Gloster, president of Morehouse College said Sunday at Paine College that Martin Luther King Jr. is perhaps the most distinguished American in the history of the United States. He said that King was much like Christ. “King and Christ were committed to religious teachings and actions. King and Christ preached and practiced brotherhood and nonviolence. Both were preoccupied with helping the poor and the oppressed, and both died in their 30s because of their unselfish doctrines and deeds.” Dr. Gloster was the speaker at the 50th anniversary celebration of the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Gilbert-La mb uth Chapel. He said King, in death, is a far more effective advocate of love and nonviolence than he ever was in life. Before King died, young blacks, he said, were adopting the “Burn, baby, burn” philogophy of H. Rap Brown and Stokeley Carmichael. A month before King died he spoke at. Morehouse and attendance was sparse. Carmichael, he said, spoke a mat th later and “attendance was so heavy we had to move from our chapel in order to accomodate the number of people.” “The man who pulled the trigger that ended the earthly existence of Martin Luther King Jr. lifted him into the select company of Christ and jhandi, great leaders who gave :heir lives in defense of lumanitarian views and eecame more effective in the aroqess.” Dr. Gloster said that had ting lived he might have juffered a decline of See “DR. GLOSTER” Page 2 25 e