1: Today we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., perhaps the most influential American of the 20th century.
And yet, the greatest American civil rights leader was at first unwilling.
In September 1954, at age 25, Martin had just completed his doctorate at Boston University. Soon after, he and his wife, Coretta, moved to Montgomery, Alabama, so he could pursue his goal of becoming a pastor. Just over a year later, on November 17, their first child, Yolanda, was born.
“Around the same time, the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP—of which Rosa Parks was the secretary—offered King the chapter’s presidency, having heard him deliver an impressive speech to the chapter’s members a few months before,” write Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin in Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude.
Martin declined, citing his responsibilities as a new pastor and father.
Then, on Thursday, December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery.
The city’s black leadership organized a meeting for Friday night. They asked Martin if they could use his church as the venue. Martin hesitated. “Let me think about it awhile and call you back.” After considering, he agreed to host as long as he “did not have to do the organizational work.”
At the meeting that night, after discussion, the group agreed to proceed with a boycott of the city’s buses for the following Monday and to hand out leaflets about the boycott over the weekend.
“On Monday morning, only a handful of black passengers rode on Montgomery’s buses,” Raymond and Michael write. “Meanwhile, hundreds of blacks walked to work or gathered for rides in cars driven by friends and acquaintances.”
The leadership group met again on Monday afternoon. “King thought that a prominent member of his church, Rufus Lewis, should be president of the new organization. But Lewis had other ideas: at the Monday meeting, Lewis promptly nominated King for the role. As a Baptist minister who was both articulate and extremely well educated, King could appeal to all segments of the city’s black community, working-class and professional alike. No other nominations were made.”
Martin was asked if he would accept the role. After a pause, he said, “Well, if you think I can render some service, I will.”
The meeting’s attendees then left to join a city-wide meeting scheduled for that evening at another of the city’s Baptist churches. As president of the newly-formed group, Martin would now be the featured speaker. Driving to the church that evening, there was so much traffic and people that he had to park his car and walk to the church.
With people streaming past them all around. Martin paused and said to his friend who was accompanying him, “You know something, Finley; this could turn into something big.”
3: After fifteen minutes of pushing through the crowd, Martin entered the church. Inside, more than 1,000 people had already gathered, while another 4,000 listened on a loudspeaker outside. Shortly after his arrival, Martin was called to the pulpit.
For a moment, he stood silently. The crowd was packed into the pews, aisles, and balconies. “We are here this evening for serious business,” Martin said. “We are here in a general sense because first and foremost we are American citizens… But we are here in a more specific sense because of the bus situation in Montgomery. We are here because we are determined to get the situation corrected.”
Martin then described Rosa Parks’s arrest and her character, saying, “Mrs. Parks is a fine Christian person, unassuming, and yet there is integrity and character there. And just because she refused to get up, she was arrested.
“And you know, my friends,” he continued, “there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression.” At that, a rising cheer exploded into deafening applause, rolling on and on. “We are here, we are here this evening because we are tired now.”
The church buzzed with energy.
“And we are not wrong; we are not wrong in what we are doing.” Martin’s voice began to rise. “If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong!”
Again, the crowd exploded.
“If we are wrong, Jesus of Nazareth was merely a Utopian dreamer and never came down to earth! If we are wrong, justice is a lie.”
The applause was now so thunderous that Martin’s voice could not be heard.
When the crowd quieted, he quoted from the Old Testament book of Amos. “And we are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight ‘until justice runs down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream!'”
Beginning to conclude, Martin said, “Love is one of the pinnacle parts of the Christian faith. There is another side called justice. And justice is really just love in calculation. Justice is love correcting that which would work against love.”
Finally, he called the crowd to action. “Right here in Montgomery, when the history books are written in the future,” they will say that there was “a people who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights.” Then he abruptly closed, saying, “Let us think on these things.”
By the end of the evening, Martin had gone from a hesitant participant in the boycott to its unquestioned leader. The events of the day had pushed him into a role he had not sought, but for which he proved exceptionally well suited.
More tomorrow.
_________________________
Reflection: When unexpected responsibility lands on my shoulders, do I shrink back—or do I, like Dr. King, allow conviction and calling to pull me forward into courageous action?
Action: Identify one situation this week where I’m tempted to stay on the sidelines, and choose one concrete step—however small—to speak up or step up in line with my deepest values.