10 Comments

Thanks for sharing the whole thing, Scot! So many people simply start with the hope in the last ten paragraphs (if they do that much, instead of paraphrasing “the content of their character). You can not get to the end without the context of the cry of the rest of the speech. Reading it fresh this morning, I’m struck by how similar it is to OT prophets in its style: harsh critique of injustice, acknowledgement of needed change, and reassurance that it doesn’t have to be like this. People didn’t listen to those prophets either.

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Thank you John. Your words speak.

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I thought the same. I was reading a few paragraphs from the center to my husband, and fighting tears all the way. Prophet, he was.

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I would guess that Tov readers know Martin Luther King, Jr well, but you might be interested in a 5-part blog I wrote focusing on Dr. King as a Christian. That is, how his Christian faith was genuine, and fundamental to his formation and effectiveness as a civil rights leader:

https://www.thestrayczech.com/2022/09/martin-luther-king-jr-christian.html

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Thank you

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God forgive me, a white woman, for the ingrained racism I don't see, for thoughts formed by societies acceptance of the unacceptable. Help me to change according to your will not mine.

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Amen.

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If that doesn't move you . . . Lord, forgive and have mercy on us.

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Thank you for posting his speech. I remember as a child hearing his speech. I asked my father about it and he explained to me the meaning of it. As a kid that grew up in a mixed community, I never saw or heard anything. I did ask a childhood friend who was African American about it and he had his mother explain it to me. From that day till now Dr Martin Luther King jr was my hero .

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Here’s the speech in its entirety:

https://youtu.be/bNBGvaSHWbY?si=M0RRjTtYKvp4gmqU

We’re going to be watching and discussing with our kids after dinner tonight.

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