Accents
By Julia Carreon-Lagoc

Humanity's King

Mankind is the beneficiary of the men and women who, by their life's work, are greater than their mortal self. Trace their trails is all we can do—somehow to walk their path of idealism or to emulate whatever goodness our poor selves are capable of doing. Two such trail blazers are Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jimmy Carter, both world-renown human rights activists.

In mid-May, my internist daughter Randy had a scheduled medical conference in Atlanta, Georgia. She had planned two important itinerary stops in Atlanta: the King Center and the Carter Center. A human rights advocate just like her parents, Randy treated us to this trip two weeks before our return to Bayan Ko.

I've always thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. as a blessing, not just to his fellow African-Americans in the United States, but to all of humanity. Truly humanity's own, King was an “eloquent voice on behalf of the disadvantaged.” As a Baptist minister, he preached to secure equal rights—in the process incurring a jail sentence and endangering his life until an assassin's bullet caught up with him in 1968. Riotings and demonstrations resulted from his assassination as millions in the US and around the world mourned his death. Indeed, a violent death for a man of peace. His tomb lies majestically in the middle of what seems like a vast swimaming pool. It is located between the Freedom Hall and the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church which had been the pastorate of both King and his father. It burns with the Eternal Flame, the engraved dates showing a life cut off in the prime age of 39.

It is said his visit to India intensified his commitment to non-violence. Thus his struggle for racial justice is in consonance with Gandhi's civil disobedience. No wonder one of the prominent features of the King Center is the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. Imprisoned for acts of civil disobedience, King made this famous reply: “An individual who breaks the law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” Think how Martin Luther King, Jr. could be speaking of our own national hero.

King's book, Stride Toward Freedom , is depicted by wax figures of men, women, and children on the walkway to freedom, and we knew deep in our hearts that we would have been marching with them were we there that very instance. (Just as we marched in protest during Marcos' time.) In the Audio-Visual Room, we saw film clips of King electrifying his audience with his now-famous “I Have a Dream” speech. His was a dream come true as witness the respect accorded African-Americans and the positions of authority many of them occupy. Excerpts:

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together on the table of brotherhood…I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character…This is our hope…With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” From his San Francisco address delivered in 1956 at the height of racism: “I believe that the day will come when all God's children from bass black to treble white will be significant on the constitution's keyboard.”

I got a copy of Martin Luther King's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech delivered on Human Rights Day, December 10, 1964 in Oslo, Norway. Sterling words decrying oppression and violence committed against his fellow African Americans. Just as stirring as the “I Have a Dream...” speech, it advances peace, brotherhood, and social justice. Excerpts:

“I accept this award with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the “isness” of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts him.

“I refuse to accept the idea that man is merely flotsom and jetsom in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

“I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have town down, men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land.

“I accept this prize on behalf of all men who love peace and brotherhood... I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom...for its true owners—all those to whom beauty is truth and truth beauty—and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.”

Words to live by from one of humanity's greatests. (Comments to juliaclagoc@yahoo.com )