African Revolutionary Writers, Part 2c
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The attached “Beyond Vietnam”
(download linked below) speech of the late Rev Martin Luther King
Junior, is a classic.
Nowadays it has become
commonplace to refer to “international solidarity” as if it is both a narrow
idea, and also a universal one. But this concept that we have received, and
then stripped of its particularity, does actually have a tremendous and
specific history whose meaning is not fully conveyed by the mere formula-phrase,
“international solidarity”.
The anti-Imperialist struggle
and the democratic struggle can and should be one. It is not a matter of
charity of the rich to the poor. It is also not solely a matter of good-hearted
and exceptional individuals. But there have indeed been such individuals, and
there will be again. Martin Luther King was such a person.
What Martin Luther King
describes, and justifies, is: “why I believe that the path from Dexter Avenue
Baptist Church - the church in Montgomery, Alabama, where I began my pastorate
- leads clearly to this sanctuary tonight.”
In other words, MLK at the
meeting of the “Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam” in April, 1967, was
preaching the intrinsic, organic unity of the struggle of the common people
everywhere. It is not an artificial altruism but it is a unity of purpose, in
concerted action against the single enemy – monopoly capitalist Imperialism –
and it involves personalities, and actual events, and places.
Further than his literal
message, there is also the extraordinary power and style of MLK’s oration. In
September 1917, just prior to the Great October Russian Revolution that he led,
Lenin spoke of “insurrection as an art”.
It is an art that goes beyond the military, and encompasses all of our
activities. Therefore when reading such a piece, one should regard them as a
source of learning of the art of advocacy, which is part of the art of
leadership, and essential to the art of insurrection.
Exactly one year after making
this speech, King was gunned down by an assassin in Memphis, Tennessee, where
he had gone to show solidarity for workers who were on strike there.
Please also see the
Counterpunch article “Martin Luther King and the
Black Revolutionary Tradition” (19 January 2015).
Picture:
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior, at the White House, Washington DC, USA
·
The above serves to
introduce the original reading-text: Martin Luther King,
Beyond Vietnam, Time to Break Silence, 1967.
