What would King do now?

Ebony, Jan, 2005 by Martin Luther King III

Martin Luther King III

President and CEO, Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change

ONE of the questions I am frequently asked in one form or another is "What would your father do if he were alive today?"

It's an interesting question, but one that can never be answered with absolute certainty ... I do occasionally wonder how my father might have approached 21st century phenomena such as the Internet ... [But] any answers to such questions that I might supply are purely speculative.

As a man of intense intellectual interest, I imagine that my father would have loved the Internet as a living, breathing encyclopedia, updated every second. As a leader of nonviolent campaigns, he would surely recognize and use the Web's power as an efficient and time-saving organizing tool for social change.

With respect to rap and hip-hop culture, I can imagine him applauding the artists who hold up positive values and social change advocacy, such as P. Diddy, Russell Simmons and others in the recent voter registration campaigns. On the other hand, as a husband, father, and minister of the gospel, I believe he would speak out against the vulgarity, misogynist lyrics and bling-bling materialism expressed by some, and would urge them to use their talents to promote education and the advancement of human dignity ...

Speculation aside, on many other critical issues and matters of principle, my father's view were unequivocal, and I have found them to be invaluable to me as guidelines for prayerful consideration of current events and issues.

With respect to war, some of my father's words could be applied with prophetic eloquence to the current situation in Iraq, such as his warning that "a so-called limited war will leave only a calamitous legacy of human suffering, political turmoil and spiritual disillusionment." I feel very comfortable in standing with those who are calling for a rapid de-escalation of U.S. military involvement in Iraq, while strengthening the role of the United Nations in ending this war.

One of my father's most profound insights was a unified theory of peace ... He believed that the most powerful method for achieving both peace and social justice was nonviolence, and this remains the touchstone of my commitment to his legacy ...

And so, I can easily imagine him leading marches to legislative houses to demonstrate in support of strengthening voting rights legislation. I can envision him organizing boycotts of corporations that discriminate ... and lobbying for sanctions against countries that violate human rights. And I can see him organizing sit-ins at state and local boards of voter registration to protest against suppression of the voting rights of people of color.

When he was assassinated, Martin Luther King Jr. was engaged in organizing the "Poor Peoples" Campaign, a coalition of people of all races united in support of the eradication of economic injustice and in favor of a job at a decent wage for all workers ... He understood that this would be the most difficult phase of the Movement, and it would require a more resolute commitment to nonviolent civil disobedience, economic withdrawal and more confrontational forms of nonviolence. I believe that this is exactly what is needed today.

There was a lot of discussion about "values" during the presidential election, but the values in question were inadequately defined. In his book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? my father called for "a new revolution of values" to create a society based on compassion, justice, peace and brotherhood ... With prophetic relevance for our times, he declared, "We still have a choice today: nonviolent co-existence or violent co-annihilation. This may well be mankind's last chance to choose between chaos or community."

Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned a new America and a worldwide Beloved Community, in which all people could have a decent life and live together in peace and security. As he said in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech 40 years ago, "I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits." This audacious vision of hope challenges us still, as we carry forward his unfinished work into the 21st century.

Marian Wright Edelman

President, Children's Defense Fund

THERE have been so many Black "firsts" since Dr. King's death, and I know every one would make him pleased and proud. He would definitely be pleased by how much Black people have accomplished in the last four decades and by the growing numbers of Black college graduates, teachers, doctors, lawyers and other professionals. But if Dr. King were here today, I think he would feel we still have so much, much work to do. I don't think he would be pessimistic--he was never one to give up. But Dr. King is famous for saying he hoped his own children would grow up in a world that would judge them not by the color of their skin but the content of their character, and I know he would be shocked and angered by how many Black children still don't have equal chances to succeed in our country.