Martin Luther King, Jr.: Drum Major for Peace

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is in West Potomac Park near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It opened to the public on August 22, 2011, and was dedicated on October 16, 2011.

The memorial’s heart is the Stone of Hope, a thirty-foot-high granite relief statute of Martin Luther King, Jr. sculpted by Lei Yixin. The Stone of Hope was inspired by King’s “I Have a Dream” speech: “With…faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”

Alongside the statue is a 450-foot-long crescent-shaped granite wall—often referred to as the Inscription Wall--with fourteen notable quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches, sermons, and writings. The quotes encapsulate his life in the civil rights movement, from his 1955 Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott to his final sermon at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (just four days before his assassination).

The following are the quotes on the Inscription Wall:

 

• “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” (Washington D.C., 1968).
• “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that” (Strength of Love, 1963).
• “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant” (Oslo, Norway, 1964).
• “Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in” (March for Integrated Schools, 1959).
• “I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America. I speak out against it not in anger but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and above all with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as a moral example of the world” (Anti-War Conference, 1967).
• “If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective” (Christmas, 1967).
• “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” (Birmingham Jail, 1963).
• “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture in their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits” (Oslo, Norway, 1963).
• “It is not enough to say, ‘We must not wage war.’ It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but the positive affirmation of peace” (Anti-War Conference, 1967).
• “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy” (Strength to Love, 1963).
• “Every nation must develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies” (New York City, 1967).
• “We are determined in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs ‘down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream [Amos 5:24]’” (Montgomery, 1955).
• “We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience” (Montgomery, 1965).
• “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice” (Stride Toward Freedom, 1958).

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s civil rights activism is much needed in our modern world: For in a world where there is still too much hatred, we need to sow love; where there is still too much injury, we need to grant forgiveness; and where there is still too much doubt, we need to hold out hope.

Through non-violence and love, Jesus converted the world, Gandhi conquered an empire, and Martin Luther King, Jr. transformed a nation’s heart. The spirit of love is much needed in a world that is growing less tolerant, more hostile, and less just.

King was a “drum major” for peace, justice, and righteousness. As members of the band, let us follow the drum major into a hopeful, just future.