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of this history and polling data. Speaking directly to his fellow pastors and Christians, who have criticized his recent protests as “unwise and untimely,” King delivers this salient message: “But I must confess I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a kind of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth.” As King reminds us later in the letter, “human progress never rolls on wheels of inevitability.” According to King, it is only through that constructive tension that we can “rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism into the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.”16 I think there may be a myth floating around about Martin Luther King Jr. I think there may be a myth that he was always the widely beloved American hero he is seen as today. I think there may be a myth that everything he did was heralded as patriotic and admirable. I think there may be a myth that he was just a “dreamer” who didn’t ruffle any feathers. The reality is that he was a revolutionary. He was an activist. He protested in the streets. He was a leader of a movement that was incredibly controversial and tremendously unpopular. People of his day called him a “troublemaker.” People of his day said that he was “disrespectful.” People of his day believed that he and his movement were “anti-white.” People of his day said that he was “divisive.” And, quite frankly, he was divisive. King’s divisiveness was not reckless or motivated by hate but calculated and compassionate. He accepted with dignity the consequences of his courageous activism, whether it was threats on the safety of his family, wiretapping by the FBI, a stabbing attack, or the eventual bullet wound that would ultimately take his life. Even fifteen years after his death, the controversy of King was still unresolved, as a president dragged his feet to authorize a national holiday in King’s honor. King lived this radical and revolutionary life because he believed in the creative power of tension. He believed that change is only made when we are uneasy—when we are uncomfortable. Next Monday, January 16th, Walla Walla University’s campus will gather for our annual MLK Day Celebration. The service will take place at 11 a.m. in the University Church and will feature a joint message from a member of our WWU faculty, Dr. Terrie Aamodt, and one of our alumni, Pastor Terrance Taylor. Their presentation will focus on the racial history of the Pacific Northwest and the contemporary experiences of students of color in our
NO INFO GOES ON THI region. While talking about issues like race can be uncomfortable, we invite our student body to join together for this event in the spirit of King, and allow tension to unfurl into necessary change. A tri-college march will begin at 4 p.m. at the Reid Center on the Whitman College campus. Bus transportation is available from the church at 3:15 p.m. and CommUnity credit will be provided for both the march and the 11 a.m. service. One of the dangers of having a revolutionary idea is remembering the idea but forgetting that it is revolutionary. Perhaps that is what we have done to the symbol of the American flag. Perhaps that is what we have done with the symbol of the Cross. We let the radical nature of these symbols fade. We let them become ordinary, in a sense, allow the carbonation to go still. It seems that it is all too easy to take these precious and revolutionary symbols for granted. As this long weekend rolls around, let us not allow ourselves to forget the radical message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Let us reject images of Dr. King that have been sugar-coated and domesticated, and allow his revolutionary legacy to inspire revolutions of compassion within our own hearts and communities.
http://time.com/3661538/mlk-day-reagan-history/ http://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/22/us/reagan-s-doubtson-dr-king-disclosed.html 3 http://thegrio.com/2016/01/18/ronald-reagan-martinluther-king-day/ 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_3uJiWCPUw 5 http://www.gallup.com/poll/149201/Americans-Divided-Whether-King-Dream-Realized.aspx 6 http://fusion.net/story/184032/black-lives-matter-martinluther-king-hate-mail/ 7 http://thekingcenter.org/archive/theme/4809 8 http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_beyond_vietnam/ 9 http://animalnewyork.com/2015/mlk-honored-icon-48years-ago-media-attacked/ 10 https://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/11-most-anti-capitalist-quotes-from-martin-luther-king-jr/ 11 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/ jan/21/king-obama-drones-militarism-sanctions-iran 12 https://www.democracynow.org/2007/4/4/beyond_vietnam_40th_anniversary_of_kings 13 http://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/21/poll-shows-whitesin-city-resent-civil-rights-drive.html?_r=1 14 http://www.salon.com/2016/07/20/think_black_lives_ matter_is_divisive_the_civil_rights_movement_split_ the_u_s_far_more/ 15 http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/07/mlkwould-never-shut-down-a-freeway-and-6-other-mythsabout-the-civil-rights-movement-and-black-lives-matter/ 16 https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html 1 2
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