Let justice roll-down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
- Amos: 5:24; referenced in the “I Have a Dream” speech
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!
- Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream” speech, 1963
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me…to deal with the problems of the poor.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr. “I’ve Been to The Mountaintop” speech, 1968, referencing Luke 4:18
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I recall that on August 28, 1963 I was in a job-training program in Washington, D.C., and I was able to walk to Constitution Avenue and join the cross-racial March on Washington against racial injustice that numbered 250,000 people. We walked to the Lincoln Memorial, and I sat on the grass and listened to several speakers. I left before what turned out to be the last speech, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech but learned about it the next day.
Following the March and the assassination of President Kennedy, the Johnson administration and Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin and opened significant opportunities in schools, workplaces, and public accommodations. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 importantly enabled Blacks to vote where they had been barred. Progressive programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Head Start were enacted in 1964-’65. These years saw greater freedom, opportunities, achievements and well-being for many Black people. However, by 1968 and before his assassination that April, Dr. King’s focus shifted to the big problem of poverty in the United States—which oppressed many Blacks and also affected millions of Whites and Hispanics. He launched a multi-ethnic “Poor People’s Campaign” against economic injustice, and called for more better-paying jobs, financial support for those unable to work, and increased low-income housing.
These economic justice issues and needs continue to confront us. The 2020 U.S. Census revealed that 37 million Americans were living in poverty with the highest number being White, non-Hispanic, 15.9 million, followed by Hispanic (any race), 10.4 million, and Black, 8.4 million. The Census also documented great U.S. income inequality whereby the lowest income 40% of Americans have only 11% of income, while the top 20% have 52% of income—and within it, the top 5% alone have 23% of income. As we remember and honor Martin Luther King, Jr. perhaps we will ask for the “Spirit of the Lord” to anoint us to promote both more racial and economic justice and “deal with the problems of the poor.”
Musical Reflection - The Porter's Gate - Establish the Work of Our Hands
