In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
One Response
Those individuals who have become heroes and legends were killed because they dared to overtly and dramatically challenge the status quo. In the case of MLK, he was NOT assassinated when his cause was civil rights for blacks, but when he expanded his mission to criticize our capitalistic, military-industrial system. It was at this precise point that he became a danger to the establishment.
Look at another leader of the civil rights era — Malcolm X. During the early portion of his public career, he concentrated SOLELY on the cause of black nationalism. While this was annoying to many in the white establishment and the general black community, it was not viewed as a direct threat.
However, at just the time Malcolm X’s views began to expand beyond strict racial lines and he, like MLK, started to attack the institutional injustice within America, THIS is when he was murdered.
At the time of both of their deaths, far too many people refused to acknowledge the revolutionary insights and convictions both men stood for. It is only when we look back through history and use the past to judge our current mess that many have come to realize the tremendous contributions each man gave to the overall social justice movement.