WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2025, MARTIN LUTHER KING

 WEDNESDAY, January 22, 2025, MLK

It’s been a busy week.  Inauguration, change of administration, and a time of confusion and animosity.

And I didn’t get to Martin Luther King.  

Race relations have been a problem- and it hasn’t totally disappeared.  

The early Americans wanted help on their huge plantations.  I can’t say that they didn’t explore smaller forms -that were the norm in the northern colonies. Maybe it was just one plantation owner who couldn’t find enough workers, or wanted cheaper labor- that arranged for indentured labor (aka slaves) to work his lands.  And,in doing so, increased his profits. 

News like that spread, and soon more plantation owners got “free” labor. It is interesting that the slave traders dealt with black people -who were selling people from tribes they had conquered- to sell those conquered slaves and grow wealthy. 

The trade continued and became the norm.  Years went by and plantation owners were getting rich- and to go to white farm labors would be difficult. 

The Civil War came , slaves we’re set free, but there were few safety nets. And, although the black people were now citizens, they had little education and few opportunities. The federal government traded well meaning programs to the individual states to gain votes or other favors from the Southerners. 

And, we got “Separate but equal” - separate schools, separate bathrooms, separate drinking fountains, separate restaurants and hotels.

THINGS HAD TO CHANGE

And they did.  Martin Luther King quotes:

• "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear". 

• "Love is the greatest force in the universe". 

• "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend".

• "I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality".

• "Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it". 

• "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that". 

King believed that love was a key tool for achieving his vision of unity, justice, and fellowship. He believed that love was an authentic concern for all people, regardless of their identity

*****

LOVE WINS -maybe wasn’’t exactly MLK’s term, but he did preach and believe it

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, January 22, 2025