Originally posted at Street Prophets.
Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
- Martin Luther King Jr., April 3, 1968
It was forty-three years ago today that Martin Luther King Jr. gave his last public speech. The very next day he was murdered. In light of current events it seems like a good time revisit his memorable last public words.
Martin Luther King “Jr. went to Memphis to lend his support to striking sanitation workers. While still focused on racial equality, the Civil Rights icon had recently expanded his social justice advocacy unto economic interests. Plans were in the works for the Poor Peoples’ March in Washington, D.C.
Sadly, much as in today’s world workers were treated by as means, not ends unto themselves. As these African-American sanitation workers were degraded, so too is today’s workers.
King’s words are eerily prescient in light of his then-impending assassination. He spoke almost with a sense of resignation as if he knew what would take place less than twenty-four hours later at the Lorraine Motel. These are bittersweet words, simultaneously a lamentation and a call for hopeful perseverance. As we face a world full of unchristian behavior and appeals to unchecked ego, let the words of one who appealed to the better angels of our nature again wash over us.