while still in the glow of a season of peace and having spent some 20 hours of the last 2 days contemplating a movement for truth and justice, i’ll wait until tomorrow to honor and celebrate the birthday of two of my favorite beings and celebrate once more one of the great human rights leaders of all time who called for a radical re-imagining of society calling forth our better angels to go deeply into the valley of the shadow of militarism, poverty and racism and to act boldly to end these pestilences…

the night before he was murdered, MLK gave one of his  most prophetic speeches known as the Mountaintop Sermon which called us to action, a call  that today all over the world we are awakening to with the…

“Poor People’s Campaign – A National Call for Moral Revival”

there is no turning back now for now is the moment for us to do as Brother Martin asked…

‘Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world.’

here is the MLK50 Pledge… thank you for joining me in this call to peace and action and for making every moment a moment of peace and justice…

“ ‘No Justice, No peace;
Know Justice, Know Peace’
is our rallying cry.

On this day, we, in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. call for peace. A peace that is more than the absence of war. We call for a just peace. A peace where all humans have the rights of security, prosperity, good and free education, accessible and plentiful food, clean water and a planet free from disastrous pollution to calamitous climate change.

We call for a just peace. A peace where people are able to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence. A peace committed to understanding, celebrating and learning from difference. A peace grounded in what Dr. King called the Beloved Community.

It takes more than words to bring about peace. It takes action. Action that decreases hostility between people and actions that promote trust so that our words have meaning. Action, must occur within a vision.

We call on ALL people to imagine a world without poverty, hunger and homelessness. Imagine a world where we reject racist ideologies and replace them with an all-inclusive spirit of love for ALL people. Imagine a world where we resolve disputes by peaceful conflict-resolution and true reconciliation. Imagine a world, where love and justice triumph.

‘No Justice, No peace;
Know Justice, Know Peace’
is our rallying cry.

But, it will take more than vision to bring peace. We must face the injustices of the past and acknowledge the injustices of the present no matter how painful. This means we must find a way to talk WITH each other instead of AT each other. It will take all of us searching deep within our own souls, taking what some call the ‘inward journey of self-reflection.’

It will take all of us to name those things we would rather hide-those things that stop us from being our better selves. We must not only name them, but also begin the process of purging those things that stifle our growth and the growth of others. This will lead us to form and develop communities of understanding that will walk, talk and stand with us. It is in this spirit-with humility and mutuality-that we will come together with one another and build a community of peace and goodwill for all humankind.

‘No Justice, No peace;
Know Justice, Know Peace’
is our rallying cry.”

Contributed by:
Assistant Professor Andre E. Johnson,
Department of Communications,
University of Memphis

may we all stand hand in hand in love for love filled with the light of divine grace to peacefully serve the world… may we know justice and peace and build communities of understanding real-eye-sing we belong to each other…