— Musings —04.04.2014 10:05 PM
MLK
Since I was a kid – since this day in 1972, in fact, when I started writing a daily journal – I have always taken note of April 4, and said to myself: “April 4. Dr. King.”
Today, 46 years ago, Martin Luther King was murdered by a racist in Memphis. Dr. King was a giant of man, the one who – as I write in Fight The Right – anticipated the message at the core of the Occupy movement, among other things. While his message continues to resonate across the decades, the violence of racial hatred continues unabated, too.
It’s April 4, and so I give you some of his most remarkable speech. Surveying the pygmies who now crowd the public stage, I don’t think we will see the likes of him again.
Agreed, a giant of a man. I’m sad that however powerful his message was, it still hasn’t taken root, especially in conservative America.
Juxtapose: Harper’s “I don’t care” speech.
After all these years I still watch the speech and love it. After all these years, not much has changed. After all these years the speech can still make me cry.