Tag: mlk

More than 2,000 people braved freezing temperatures at Spokane's MLK Day Unity march, marking the first gathering without beloved co-founders Ivan Bush and Rev. Happy Watkins.

Fifty-one years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the United States remains divided by issues of race and racism, economic inequality as well as unequal access to justice. These issues are stopping the country from developing into the kind of society that Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for during his years as a civil rights activist.

One major influence on King’s thought was the African-American minister, theologian, and mystic Howard Thurman.

Tomorrow, on the 50th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence," the Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane will host a panel discussion on the violence King addressed.

We have long since learned that King was a fallible human being and I have no wish to make him more than that. But it is important to notice that his vision was much larger than many people imagine.

King used a prophetic voice in his preaching – the hopeful voice that begins in prayer and attends to human tragedy. Indeed, the best of African-American preaching is three-dimensional – it is priestly, it is sage, it is prophetic.

Elevators, like the well from which Jesus drew water with the Samaritan woman, are compelling venues for conversation. Don’t you think?