chrisfostermusi
01-21-2002, 09:01 AM
Today we celebrate the birthday of one of the most remarkable figures this earth has ever known, Martin Luther King.
I have often found it sad that the only thing that seems to be remembered about Martin is his "I have a dream" speech. But taking a step back in time, back before the passing of the Cival rights act, Martin delivered what I consider to be his defining speech.
Take yourself back to 1963. The scene was Birmingham Alabama. Three young black girls were just killed of a violent bombing of a black church. Martin Luther King was on hand to deliver the Eulogy. This Eulogy for the martyred children is a philosophical masterpiece that gives us keen insight into the motives of one of the 1960's most controvesial figures. This Eulogy is very moving and shows what great leadership he possesed during one of the Cival Rights movements worst nightmares!
Chris
Eulogy for the Martyred Children
Delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King
18 September 1963
Birmingham, Ala.
This afternoon we gather in the quiet of this sanctuary to pay
our last tribute of respect to these beautiful children of God.
They entered the stage of history just a few years ago, and in
the brief years that they were privileged to act on this mortal
stage, they played their parts exceedingly well. Now the curtain
falls; they move through the exit; the drama of their earthly
life comes to a close. They are now committed back to that
eternity from which they came.
These children—unoffending, innocent, and beautiful—were the
victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever
perpetrated against humanity. Yet they died nobly. They are the
martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human
dignity.
And so this afternoon in a real sense they have something to say
to each of us in their death. They have something to say to
every minister of the gospel who has remained silent behind the
safe security of stained-glass windows. They have something to
say to every politician [Audience:] (Yeah) who has fed his
constituents with the stale bread of hatred and the spoiled meat
of racism. They have something to say to a federal government
that has compromised with the undemocratic practices of southern
Dixiecrats (Yeah) and the blatant hypocrisy of right-wing
northern Republicans. (Speak) They have something to say to
every Negro (Yeah) who has passively accepted the evil system of segregation and who has stood on the sidelines in a mighty
struggle for justice. They say to each of us, black and white
alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. (Mmm) They
say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who
murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the
philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us
that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the
realization of the American dream.
And so my friends, they did not die in vain. (Yeah) God still
has a way of wringing good out of evil. (Oh yes) And history has
proven over and over again that unmerited suffering is
redemptive. The innocent blood of these little girls may well
serve as a redemptive force (Yeah) that will bring new light to
this dark city. (Yeah. Mmm) The holy Scripture says, "A little
child shall lead them." (Well) The death of these little
children may lead our whole Southland (Well) from the low road
of man's inhumanity to man to the high road of peace and
brotherhood. (Yeah) These tragic deaths may lead our nation to
substitute an aristocracy of character for an aristocracy of
color. The spilled blood of these innocent girls may cause the
whole citizenry of Birmingham (Yeah) to transform the negative
extremes of a dark past into the positive extremes of a bright
future. (Mmm) Indeed, this tragic event may cause the white
South to come to terms with its conscience. (Yeah)
And so I stand here to say this afternoon to all assembled here
that in spite of the darkness of this hour, (Well) we must not
despair. (Well) We must not become bitter, (Yeah. That’s right)
nor must we harbor the desire to retaliate with violence. (Mmm)
No, we must not lose faith in our white brothers. (Yeah) Somehow we must believe that the most misguided among them can learn to respect the dignity and the worth of all human personality.
May I now say a word to you, the members of the bereaved
families? It is almost impossible to say anything that can
console you at this difficult hour and remove the deep clouds of
disappointment which are floating in your mental skies. But I
hope you can find a little consolation from the universality of
this experience. Death comes to every individual. There is an
amazing democracy about death. It is not aristocracy for some of
the people, but a democracy for all of the people. Kings die and
beggars die; rich men and poor men die; old people die and young people die. Death comes to the innocent and it comes to the guilty. Death is the irreducible common denominator of all men.
I hope you can find some consolation from Christianity's
affirmation that death is not the end. Death is not a period
that ends the great sentence of life, but a comma that
punctuates it to more lofty significance. Death is not a blind
alley that leads the human race into a state of nothingness, but
an open door which leads man into life eternal. Let this daring
faith, this great invincible surmise, be your sustaining power
during these trying days.
Now I say to you in conclusion, life is hard, at times as hard
as crucible steel. (Mmm) It has its bleak and difficult moments.
Like the ever-flowing waters of the river, life has its moments
of drought and its moments of flood. (Yeah) Like the ever-
changing cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of
its summers and the piercing chill of its winters. (Yeah) But if
one will hold on, he will discover that God walks with him,
(Yeah. Well) and that God is able (Yeah) to lift you from the
fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope and transform dark
and desolate valleys into sunlit paths of inner peace. (Mmm)
And so today, you do not walk alone. You gave to this world
wonderful children. (Mmm) They didn’t live long lives, but they
lived meaningful lives. (Well) Their lives were distressingly
small in quantity, but glowingly large in quality. (Yeah) And no
greater tribute can be paid to you as parents, and no greater
epitaph can come to them as children, than where they died and
what they were doing when they died. (Yeah) They did not die in
the dives and dens of Birmingham, (Well) nor did they die
discussing and listening to filthy jokes. (Yeah) They died
between the sacred walls of the church of God (Yeah) and they
were discussing the eternal meaning (Yes) of love. This stands
out as a beautiful, beautiful thing for all generations. (Yes)
Shakespeare had Horatio to say some beautiful words as he stood over the dead body of Hamlet. And today, as I stand over the remains of these beautiful, darling girls, I paraphrase the
words of Shakespeare (Well): Good night, sweet princesses. (Mmm) Good night, those who symbolize a new day. (Yeah) And may the flight of angels (That’s right) take thee to thy eternal rest.
God bless you.
I have often found it sad that the only thing that seems to be remembered about Martin is his "I have a dream" speech. But taking a step back in time, back before the passing of the Cival rights act, Martin delivered what I consider to be his defining speech.
Take yourself back to 1963. The scene was Birmingham Alabama. Three young black girls were just killed of a violent bombing of a black church. Martin Luther King was on hand to deliver the Eulogy. This Eulogy for the martyred children is a philosophical masterpiece that gives us keen insight into the motives of one of the 1960's most controvesial figures. This Eulogy is very moving and shows what great leadership he possesed during one of the Cival Rights movements worst nightmares!
Chris
Eulogy for the Martyred Children
Delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King
18 September 1963
Birmingham, Ala.
This afternoon we gather in the quiet of this sanctuary to pay
our last tribute of respect to these beautiful children of God.
They entered the stage of history just a few years ago, and in
the brief years that they were privileged to act on this mortal
stage, they played their parts exceedingly well. Now the curtain
falls; they move through the exit; the drama of their earthly
life comes to a close. They are now committed back to that
eternity from which they came.
These children—unoffending, innocent, and beautiful—were the
victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever
perpetrated against humanity. Yet they died nobly. They are the
martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human
dignity.
And so this afternoon in a real sense they have something to say
to each of us in their death. They have something to say to
every minister of the gospel who has remained silent behind the
safe security of stained-glass windows. They have something to
say to every politician [Audience:] (Yeah) who has fed his
constituents with the stale bread of hatred and the spoiled meat
of racism. They have something to say to a federal government
that has compromised with the undemocratic practices of southern
Dixiecrats (Yeah) and the blatant hypocrisy of right-wing
northern Republicans. (Speak) They have something to say to
every Negro (Yeah) who has passively accepted the evil system of segregation and who has stood on the sidelines in a mighty
struggle for justice. They say to each of us, black and white
alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. (Mmm) They
say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who
murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the
philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us
that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the
realization of the American dream.
And so my friends, they did not die in vain. (Yeah) God still
has a way of wringing good out of evil. (Oh yes) And history has
proven over and over again that unmerited suffering is
redemptive. The innocent blood of these little girls may well
serve as a redemptive force (Yeah) that will bring new light to
this dark city. (Yeah. Mmm) The holy Scripture says, "A little
child shall lead them." (Well) The death of these little
children may lead our whole Southland (Well) from the low road
of man's inhumanity to man to the high road of peace and
brotherhood. (Yeah) These tragic deaths may lead our nation to
substitute an aristocracy of character for an aristocracy of
color. The spilled blood of these innocent girls may cause the
whole citizenry of Birmingham (Yeah) to transform the negative
extremes of a dark past into the positive extremes of a bright
future. (Mmm) Indeed, this tragic event may cause the white
South to come to terms with its conscience. (Yeah)
And so I stand here to say this afternoon to all assembled here
that in spite of the darkness of this hour, (Well) we must not
despair. (Well) We must not become bitter, (Yeah. That’s right)
nor must we harbor the desire to retaliate with violence. (Mmm)
No, we must not lose faith in our white brothers. (Yeah) Somehow we must believe that the most misguided among them can learn to respect the dignity and the worth of all human personality.
May I now say a word to you, the members of the bereaved
families? It is almost impossible to say anything that can
console you at this difficult hour and remove the deep clouds of
disappointment which are floating in your mental skies. But I
hope you can find a little consolation from the universality of
this experience. Death comes to every individual. There is an
amazing democracy about death. It is not aristocracy for some of
the people, but a democracy for all of the people. Kings die and
beggars die; rich men and poor men die; old people die and young people die. Death comes to the innocent and it comes to the guilty. Death is the irreducible common denominator of all men.
I hope you can find some consolation from Christianity's
affirmation that death is not the end. Death is not a period
that ends the great sentence of life, but a comma that
punctuates it to more lofty significance. Death is not a blind
alley that leads the human race into a state of nothingness, but
an open door which leads man into life eternal. Let this daring
faith, this great invincible surmise, be your sustaining power
during these trying days.
Now I say to you in conclusion, life is hard, at times as hard
as crucible steel. (Mmm) It has its bleak and difficult moments.
Like the ever-flowing waters of the river, life has its moments
of drought and its moments of flood. (Yeah) Like the ever-
changing cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of
its summers and the piercing chill of its winters. (Yeah) But if
one will hold on, he will discover that God walks with him,
(Yeah. Well) and that God is able (Yeah) to lift you from the
fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope and transform dark
and desolate valleys into sunlit paths of inner peace. (Mmm)
And so today, you do not walk alone. You gave to this world
wonderful children. (Mmm) They didn’t live long lives, but they
lived meaningful lives. (Well) Their lives were distressingly
small in quantity, but glowingly large in quality. (Yeah) And no
greater tribute can be paid to you as parents, and no greater
epitaph can come to them as children, than where they died and
what they were doing when they died. (Yeah) They did not die in
the dives and dens of Birmingham, (Well) nor did they die
discussing and listening to filthy jokes. (Yeah) They died
between the sacred walls of the church of God (Yeah) and they
were discussing the eternal meaning (Yes) of love. This stands
out as a beautiful, beautiful thing for all generations. (Yes)
Shakespeare had Horatio to say some beautiful words as he stood over the dead body of Hamlet. And today, as I stand over the remains of these beautiful, darling girls, I paraphrase the
words of Shakespeare (Well): Good night, sweet princesses. (Mmm) Good night, those who symbolize a new day. (Yeah) And may the flight of angels (That’s right) take thee to thy eternal rest.
God bless you.