Martin Luther King was a man of love. He devoted his
entire life to honouring his brothers and sisters of all races, gender and
creeds that for a nation to be truly free every man, women and child has to be
upheld in respect, dignity and love. Throughout the south King attended many
rallies in support of the Freedom Riders, to the Sanitation workers of Memphis,
who were striking, not for equal pay but for decent pay. They were in their 25th
day of strikes when the major of the Memphis refused to increase their pay to
their white counterparts. They demonstrated peacefully for weeks at the hands
of police brutality.
It became evident throughout King’s mission that
non-violence was having far reaching effects that not only the white community
found threatening but the government. Niceties were always given when in
public, yet most political leaders at the municipal, state and federal level
were overwhelmed with what his presence was doing globally. They knew when he
showed up the world was watching. His message of peace was too close to the southern
conscious, they couldn’t look themselves in the eye with any morals. They knew
they were wrong, but it was too hard to realize what had transpired in the past
needed to change. They clambered down any time a Black stood up for themselves,
they called it violent disobedience. The Blacks mostly protested in silence and
non-violently. M.L.King was an advocate of Ghandi, along with Nelson Mandela,
who realized their roads were long, hard and met with violence.
What I learned was that the CIA and the FBI need to
control the Blacks. King’s death was definitely a conspiracy along with
hundreds of other men that came before and after him. The Black Panther’s for Self
Defense were targeted by Hoover as being the largest terrorist group in the
world. Hoover was supposed to be reporting to Robert Kennedy but he never told
them the myriad of times the state police weren’t going to be protecting
innocent Blacks. He allowed local police all over America to beat, thrash, and
kill Blacks that were non-violently protesting.
When King died a legacy of peace was destroyed. The
Blacks all over America were now going to act. The anger had welled up for far
too long, they looted, damaged, and injured stores, cars, busses, schools, and
whites. The nation finally stood up when they saw whites being persecuted yet
few stood up when it was happening to the Blacks. Coretta, King’s wife came and
walked with the Sanitation workers in Memphis. She said, “My husband would have
been there and because I believe it might decrease the chance of violence, I
will walk with them.” She along with the union leaders marched for hours with
the federal marshals at the side of the road and locals in disbelief that this
woman had the strength and courage to come and support these people.
His legacy will live on in each of us as a testament
to the power of non-violence.
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