From the Lecture:

A second evil which plagues the modern world is that of poverty. Like a monstrous octopus, it projects its nagging, prehensile tentacles in lands and villages all over the world. Almost two-thirds of the peoples of the world go to bed hungry at night. They are undernourished, ill-housed, and shabbily clad. Many of them have no houses or beds to sleep in. Their only beds are the sidewalks of the cities and the dusty roads of the villages. Most of these poverty-stricken children of God have never seen a physician or a dentist. This problem of poverty is not only seen in the class division between the highly developed industrial nations and the so-called underdeveloped nations; it is seen in the great economic gaps within the rich nations themselves.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

The more things change.....

History does like to repeat itself. Therefore, let’s look backward to King’s words (from the Lecture) and then enthusiastically forward to 2008.

Another indication that progress is being made was found in the recent presidential election in the United States. The American people revealed great maturity by overwhelmingly rejecting a presidential candidate who had become identified with extremism, racism, and retrogression. The voters of our nation rendered a telling blow to the radical right. They defeated those elements in our society which seek to pit white against Negro and lead the nation down a dangerous Fascist path.

It’s too bad we have to keep repeating history in order to learn anything from it.

"It’s too bad we have to keep repeating history in order to learn anything from it.”

Which regrettably made me think that Americans are like stupid high school kids who have to retake classes over and over again.

Hi Kate and Friends,
I am a long time reader and admirer of this site. Followed a link here some time back looking for design ideas and have continued to visit almost daily. I am often amused, sometimes provoked to further inquiry, but never disappointed.
I too sometimes wonder what kind of world we would inhabit had not Dr. King’s life been so cruelly cut short. I watched the I Have a Dream speech as an adolescent son of a WWII veteran, still reeling from JFK’s Inaugural Address and believing my generation would right wrongs and secure the peace that my father’s generation had paid so dearly for. The murders and war that followed disavowed me and many others of that notion.
Still, as I hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr speak of going to the Mountaintop in a cadence that gives me a chill to this day, I do believe

right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant

The excerpt from Dr. King’s speech on your blog today is a wonderful tribute to a brilliant and courageous man.

Don, thank you for the really, really kind words.

The sentence you quoted from Dr. King’s speech is precisely the one that made me select this excerpt.

I realized, after reading several of his writings and speeches today that Martin Luther King Jr was a man full of hope. He always spoke in terms of hope. And I also realized how hungry I am to hear words of hope—of what we can accomplish and what we can do. I am bone weary of speeches about fear and hatred and anger and war.

Spending time with Dr. King’s words today gave me a lift and brightened my spirits astonishingly.

I was a teenager when he was murdered and although I was certainly aware of him, and understood that he was a strong and charismatic leader, I think it really was today that I understood the power of his message of hope when everything looks bleak. Right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. What powerful words of hope to hold close.

He never gave up hope or belief in the American people or in our ability to change. So I guess I won’t, either.