EVERY third Monday of January, the United States observes a federal holiday in honour of civil rights icon Martin Luther King.
This year’s holiday is one day after the birth anniversary of the great apostle of non-violent change.
This is a superb opportunity to again listen to MLK’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech; a six-and-a-half minute version is on YouTube.
The rousing address is arguably the greatest in history, its timeless message and breathtaking oratory beyond compare.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’.”
I have also been reading an essay King wrote after his 1959 visit to India, at age 30, following an earlier invitation from Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
“While the Montgomery boycott was going on,” he said, “India’s Gandhi was the guiding light of our technique of non-violent social change.”
King told of being overwhelmed with love from leaders and people on Indian streets (“the most generous hospitality possible”), and being “besieged” with requests to make appearances and deliver speeches.
He wrote: “The Indian people love to listen to Negro spirituals.”
King said the trip “had a great impact upon me. It was wonderful to be in Gandhi’s land…”
He wrote that India could never forget its great servant leader, about “the wonderful spiritual quality” Gandhi instilled in his nation and his campaign against the caste system and other ills.
King acclaimed Gandhi’s philosophy as “the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people.”
Nelson Mandela, that other secular saint, was also influenced by Gandhi’s satyagraha principle (to hold firmly to the truth).
Mandela said Gandhi’s philosophy “contributed in no small measure to bringing about a peaceful transformation to South Africa and in healing the destructive human divisions that had been spawned by the abhorrent practice of apartheid.”
The similar crusades against oppression by Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela are an enduring reminder of the shared and common history of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
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