February 26,1981
THE VOICE
Page Five
The Second Martin Luther King”
(Continued from Page 4)
King’s insistence that tiie War be ended
grew more noticeably, the Johnson
administration manipulated leading
Negro leaders to counteract the impact
of King. Bayard Rustin, who was then
the director of the A. Philip Randolph
institute and an associate of the AFL-
CIO’s right wing President, George
Meany, publicly accused King of
political opportunism. Rustin declared
that the Johnson administration’s pur
suit of the war a military problem, and
he insisted that the spill-over of civil
rights into international diplomacy
would retard the integrationist
movement at home. White intellectuals
like C. Vann Woodward attacked King
for his continued criticism of American
domestic and foreign policy. Wood
ward wrote, in an article for Harper’s,
“What Happened to the Civil Rights
Movement?”, that King had gone too
far. His rhetorical question, “What
more do they want?” symbolized the
Great Society’s and white middle
America’s consternation. Whitney
Young and Senator Brooke went to
Vietnam in 1967 and pleaded to the
public that the conduct of the war be
left to the White House, and not to
social militants like King and Car
michael. Carl Rowen and Rustin wrote
a number of articles in national white
journals lamenting “Martin Luther
King’s tragic decision” on Vietnam.
And so King was forced to the left,
in part by his own doing, and in truth,
largely by the isolation and rejection of
his former friends and allies in the
movement. King himself never iden
tified his position with that of Car
michael, who by 1968 was viewed as
the leading spokesman for the ideology
for Black Power and cultural
nationalism. But King did begin to
view his own politics as being similar to
those of W.E.B. DuBois, of whom he
spoke at a “Tribute to DuBois” at
Carnegie Hall in February, 1968. King
spoke of DuBois: “He confronted the
establishment as a model of militant
manhood and integrity. He defied
them and though they heaped venom
and scorn on him, his powerful voice
was never still.” He noted with disap
proval that the NAACP and white
liberals “would like to ignore the fact
that DuBois was a Communist in his
last years...Our irrational, obsessive
anti-Communism has led us into too
many quagmires.”
Clearly, if Martin were alive today
he would be the most outstanding critic
of the Reagan Administration, black
or white. Martin would embrace the
new governments of Zimbabwe and
Nicaragua. Martin would rush to af
firm our support for the liberation for
ces in El Salvador. He would condemn
the Reagan Administration’s not-so-
secret role in supporting the white-
minority regime in Namibia, and he
would call for national nonviolent
demonstrations against the apartheid
regime’s continued anti-humanistic
policies.
This is the second Martin Luther
King, Jr. - the internationalist, the
world activist, the proponent of Third
World rights, the opponent of TJS im
perialism. As we remember this great
defender of civil rights, let us also
recall the other more important dimen
sions of Martin’s work on the world
stage. He does not only belong to us.
His legacy is that of oppressed peoples
everywhere.
fVh}’ didn’t FSUclose?
On January 15, 1981, Rev. Martin
Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, I was in
my room listening to the news on the
radio. The D.J. began to name a num
ber of predominately black colleges
who were not having classes during this
day. A lot of colleges were named ex
cept for one - Fayetteville State Univer
sity. I began to wonder why? Was it
because the students weren’t concer
ned? Or could it be that the things that
Dr. King did weren’t important
enough. Well, why don’t we, as we all
say, check him out.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
was born in Atlanta, Ga. He was the
son of a baptist minister. The records
show that he was an excellent student.
At the age of 15 he entered Morehouse
College in Atlanta and graduated with
honors in 1948 at the age of 19. In
1951, he attended school at Croger
Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania
where he graduated first in his class.
He also received a Ph.D. in Theology
from Boston University in 1955.
At this point some of you may be
saying, “So what? I know a lot of
people who have accomplished a lot
more than that.” Well, let’s see what
else went on with him.
Let’s keep in mind that Dr. King
believed in nonviolence as a resistance
to oppression. He felt that this was the
right strategy for the black movement.
A black woman named Rosa Parks
was arrested in December of 1955 for
refusing to move to the back of a
public bus. At this time Dr. King was
the president of the Montgomery Im
provement Association and helped lead
a year-long bus boycott. After much
violence by white’s against blacks, the
Supreme Court ruled in 1956 that
Letters to the Editor
Prisoner wants penpal
Dear Editor:
I am a prisoner on death row at the
Arizona State Prison and was won
dering if you would do me a favor and
run this ad for correspondence in your
school newspaper. I have been here for
about two years and don’t get any mail
and am kind of looking for someone to
talk to through the mail on a friendly
type basis. If you don’t have a place
for this kind of thing in your paper
maybe you could see if you could post
it on a bulletin board somewhere so
that people could see it. I will just
make up a small ad in the next
paragraph and if you think that it
needs to be changed just go ahead and
change it as I don’t know much about
these things.
Death row prisoner, 31, male
Caucasian would like correspondence
with college students just to have
someone to write to. I really don’t
know who or what I am looking for
but would like to have a friendly type
relationship and just more or less share
experiences. I will answer all letters I
get so if anyone is interested write to:
Lee McVay 39477, Arizona State
Prison, Box 629, Florence, Arizona,
85232. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Lee McVay
Who can make us free?
segregation in public transportation
was illegal.
With this victory of nonviolent
resistance it gave Dr. King nationwide
prominence in the civil rights
movement.
Well, students of FSU, are you im
pressed? Just a little, uh? Well, let’s
ease on down the road.
In January, 1957, he helped to find
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference to coordinate many civil
rights organizations. He was involved
in sit-ins and freedom rides of 1960 and
1961. For participation in movements
throughout the south. Dr. King was of
ten jailed. But that didn’t stop him.
Even in jail of 1963, he wrote his
famous “Letter from Birmingham
Jail,” appealing to clergymen to sup
port the struggle for equal rights.
With these struggles going on,
President John F. Kennedy sent a civil
rights bill to Congress. On August 28,
1963, more than 250,000 marchers,
mostly blacks, gathered at the March
on Washington for jobs and freedom.
Here is where Dr. King delivered his
famous “I Have A Dream” speech.
Congress then passed the 1964 Civil
Rights Acts. In October, 1964, Dr.
King was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize for his nonviolent struggle again
st racial oppression.
Well family of FSU, after receiving
the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. King kept
on moving. In 1965, Dr. King led a
voters jegistiation drive in Alabama.
People came from all over the nation in
support of the drive for black voting
rights. Guess what FSU? Congress
passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In 1968, Dr. King organized a “Poor
People’s Campaign” to unite the poor
To the Editor:
What does it really mean to be free?
Who can make us free? Of what will
we be made free? These questions are
often raised by unbelievers concerning
spiritual freedom.
In this letter, I will be attemtping to
answer each of these questions. I will
be using the Holy Bible as my source of
reference.
The first question asks, “What does
it really mean to be free?” Well, it is
true that the first admendment to the
Constitution of the United States has
given us as American people certain
freedoTTVS, sucVi as freedom of reVigion,
freedom of speech, and the freedom of
the press. The constitution provides the
rights of assembly and petition. It is
true that we have been given certain
freedoms, but this is not the type of
freedom which I am concerning myself
with at this time. The type of freedom
that I am speaking of is spiritual
freedom, not worldly. The true
meaning of freedom from a spiritual
standpoint can be found in God’s Son,
Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “And ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free.” (St. John 8:32) If the
Son therefore shall make you free, you
shall be free indeed. (St. John 8:36) To
be free is to be spiritually free.
To perfectly understand freedom,
we must know the source of freedom
which leads to the second question.
of all races in a fight against poverty.
On April 4, 1968, he went to Memphis,
Tennessee to support a strike by black
sanitation workers. There he was
assassinated by a white man.
Okay students of FSU. I’m very im
pressed by Dr. King’s contributions.
What about you? Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. was a great man. He
made blacks aware of civil rights. I
hope that I made you, FSU, aware of
Dr. King’s contributions. Missing one
day out of class to celebrate the birth
day of a man such as Dr. King
wouldn’t have hurt at all. I figure if the
students of FSU can get a homecoming
theme changed by boycotting classes
for days at a time what’s wrong with
one day for Dr. King? Next year on Dr.
King’s birthday ask yourselves this
question: “Is Dr. King’s birthday wor
th celebrating and why?”
Inscribed on Dr. King’s tombstone is
the religious vision that underlay his
activism, “FREE AT LAST, FREE
AT LAST, THANK GOD
ALMIGHTY I’M FREE AT LAST.”
Dr. King wrote a book that is rated
number one on my list. It is entitled
Where Do We Go From Here? Why
don’t you, as the cliche goes, check it
out.
Anonymous
“Who can make me free?” Man
definitely cannot make himself free.
Jesus Christ is the only one that can
make a person free. There have been
many false prophets in our time that
have professed that they can make a
person free such as Buddha, Father
Divine, Jim Jones, and many others.
But Jesus Christ is the only one that
can make another person free. The
reason why I know that only Jesus can
make a person free is because one day
he made me free. He not only made me
free physically, but he also made me
free “spirituaUy. Hyevv sirve*- tv>.
made me Tree, life has been more
meaningful, more peaceful, and more
loveable to me, whereas before, life
wasn’t this way to me. I am no longer
in the bondage of sin, but I am in the
hands of the almighty God. In other
words. I’m standing on that solid rock
which is Jesus Christ. I thank God for
knowing that I am also going to stand
forever as long as I continue to stand
on the rock.
Now that we understand freedom
and we know who can make us free, we
can now consider that third question,
“Of what will I be made free?” There
are many things from which a person
will be made free, such as frustration,
anxiety, envy, weariness, and sickness.
There are many other things from
which a person will be made free, but
the main thing from which a person
will be made free is of the judgement to
come. You see, “For we must all ap
pear before the judgement seat of
Christ; that every one may receive the
things done in this body; according to
that he hath done, whether it be good
or bad.” (II Corinthians 5:10) A per
son that rejects Jesus Christ during his
lifetime will be in danger or the
judgement. The penalty for not accep
ting God’s Son is death. For the Bible
states that the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
What about your life. Reader? Are
you free? Or are you bound by the
limitation of the world. There is a way
to be made free. The first thing that
you must do is to acknowledge the fact
that you are not free at this present
time. Secondly, acknowledge the fact
that Jesus Christ is the only one that
can make a person free. Then after
acknowledging these two things, the
Bible states that “If thou shall confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shall believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the d'eath, thou
shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9) The
only thing that you have to do is call on
Him and He will answer you. God said
in his word, “For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved.” (Romans 10:13)
Timothy Moore