In 1967, almost exactly a year before he was murdered by a white supremacist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech at Riverside Church in New York City. “Beyond Vietnam” was his explanation of the intersectionality of the global movement for peace and the movement for civil rights. Today, as we enjoy a day off work to mark Dr. King’s contributions, the challenging words of this speech echo with a powerful relevance.
I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin...we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
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A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.
This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing -- embracing and unconditional love for all mankind.
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We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation.
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
And, every person - every one of us - must now craft an “overriding loyalty and all-embracing love” for our human family and the beautiful planet that supports us, if we want to preserve life through the political, economic, and climate emergencies we have caused.
Be safe and well, and know that your contributions on this path are deeply important.
An all-embracing love