Here's an amazing letter written by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. from a jail cell in Birmingham. This presentation is a bit long, but moving and well worth the investment of your thoughtful time.
"A Reading of The Letter From Birmingham Jail" – Before the Dream... There was a Letter... from Kirwan Institute on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label Jr.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jr.. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Sunday, May 19, 2013
From Dr. King's last speech. . .looking for Amos
"We need all of you. . . and you know what's beautiful to me, is to see all of these ministers of the Gospel. It's a marvelous picture. Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, and say, 'Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.' . . .
"It's alright to talk about 'long white robes over yonder,' in all its symbolism. But ultimately, people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It's alright to talk about 'streets flowing with milk and honey,' but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and [the] children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's alright to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God' preacher must talk about the New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. That is what we have to do. . . .
"We aren't going to let any mace stop us. We are masters in our nonviolent movement in disarming police forces; they don't know what to do. I've seen them so often. I remember in Birmingham. . .when we were in the majestic struggle there [and] we would move out. . .by the hundreds. . . . And Bull Conner would tell them to send the dogs forth and they did come; but we just went before the dogs singing. Bull Connor next would say, 'Turn the fire hoses on.' And, as I said to you the other night, Bull Connor didn't know history. He knew a kind of physics that somehow didn't relate to the transphysics that we knew about. And that was the fact that there was a certain kind of fire that no water could put out."
Sunday, February 03, 2013
Sunday, December 26, 2010
A very special Christmas story
Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Children's Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.
Mrs. Edelman's Child Watch Column also appears each week on The Huffington Post and Change.org.
I "lifted" the following story from Edelman's column. She reports on a very special Christmas Eve sermon delivered at the Riverside Church in New Yorik City by her friend William Sloan Coffin, Jr. Her Christmas story provides all the direction we need to craft a better community as we begin our first steps toward next Christmas, don't you think?
______________________________
. . . it was Christmas Eve and the pews at New York City’s Riverside Church were packed. The Christmas pageant was underway and had come to the point at which the innkeeper was to turn away Mary and Joseph with the resounding line, “There’s no room at the inn!” The innkeeper was played by Tim, an earnest youth of the congregation who had Down Syndrome. Only one line to remember: “There’s no room at the inn!” He had practiced it again and again with his parents and the pageant director and seemed to have mastered it.
So Tim stood at the altar, bathrobe costume firmly belted over his broad stomach, as Mary and Joseph made their way down the center aisle. They approached him, said their lines as rehearsed, and waited for his reply. Tim’s parents, the pageant director, and the whole congregation almost leaned forward as if willing him to remember his line.
“There’s no room at the inn!” Tim boomed out, just as rehearsed. But then, as Mary and Joseph turned on cue to travel further, Tim suddenly yelled “Wait!” They turned back, startled, and looked at him in surprise.
“You can stay at my house!” he called.
Well, Tim had so effectively preached the Christmas Eve message at Riverside Church that Bill Coffin strode to the pulpit, said “Amen,” and sat down. It was the best sermon he never preached.
When will we individually and collectively as congregations, as communities, and as a nation resolve to stop saying to our children, “There’s no room at the inn”? When will we, like Tim, start saying, “You can stay at my house”? As the recession’s dangerous effects linger, when will we say to poor, hungry, and homeless children, “Wait! We’ll make a place for you at America’s table”? How long until we say to children whose parents are working hard every day trying to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, “We will help you escape poverty”? “We’ll catch you in our safety net until your family is able to provide for you again”?
Mrs. Edelman's Child Watch Column also appears each week on The Huffington Post and Change.org.
I "lifted" the following story from Edelman's column. She reports on a very special Christmas Eve sermon delivered at the Riverside Church in New Yorik City by her friend William Sloan Coffin, Jr. Her Christmas story provides all the direction we need to craft a better community as we begin our first steps toward next Christmas, don't you think?
______________________________
. . . it was Christmas Eve and the pews at New York City’s Riverside Church were packed. The Christmas pageant was underway and had come to the point at which the innkeeper was to turn away Mary and Joseph with the resounding line, “There’s no room at the inn!” The innkeeper was played by Tim, an earnest youth of the congregation who had Down Syndrome. Only one line to remember: “There’s no room at the inn!” He had practiced it again and again with his parents and the pageant director and seemed to have mastered it.
So Tim stood at the altar, bathrobe costume firmly belted over his broad stomach, as Mary and Joseph made their way down the center aisle. They approached him, said their lines as rehearsed, and waited for his reply. Tim’s parents, the pageant director, and the whole congregation almost leaned forward as if willing him to remember his line.
“There’s no room at the inn!” Tim boomed out, just as rehearsed. But then, as Mary and Joseph turned on cue to travel further, Tim suddenly yelled “Wait!” They turned back, startled, and looked at him in surprise.
“You can stay at my house!” he called.
Well, Tim had so effectively preached the Christmas Eve message at Riverside Church that Bill Coffin strode to the pulpit, said “Amen,” and sat down. It was the best sermon he never preached.
When will we individually and collectively as congregations, as communities, and as a nation resolve to stop saying to our children, “There’s no room at the inn”? When will we, like Tim, start saying, “You can stay at my house”? As the recession’s dangerous effects linger, when will we say to poor, hungry, and homeless children, “Wait! We’ll make a place for you at America’s table”? How long until we say to children whose parents are working hard every day trying to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, “We will help you escape poverty”? “We’ll catch you in our safety net until your family is able to provide for you again”?
Monday, March 16, 2009
Matt Martinez, Jr. dies: Sad day for Dallas and all of Texas
Anyone familiar with East Dallas, knew Matt Martinez, Jr., owner of Matt's Rancho Martinez. You can read the interesting and amazing story of Matt's life below from Sunday's edition of The Dallas Morning News.
Matt's is a regular gathering place for our family and for numbers of our friends and associates. Going to Matt's is sort of like going to a really wonderful "family" place. When Matt was in the house, he'd come by and visit witih you, tell a story or two and thank you for coming in.
Matt provided a favorite "watering hole" for a number of the gunslingers with whom I often find myself hanging out.
I'll never forget the night we closed on 511 N. Akard. We met a crew from the Central Dallas CDC to celebrate at Matt's--where else? We've planned just about every aspect of our Community Health Services around a table at Matt's.
He will be missed so much.
Rest in peace, Matt. You delivered joy, relaxing space, great food and laughter to lots and lots of us. We're all grateful.
________________________________
Tex-Mex restaurateur Matt Martinez Jr. dies at 63
12:18 AM CDT on Sunday, March 15, 2009
By ERIC AASEN and JOE SIMNACHER / The Dallas Morning News
12:18 AM CDT on Sunday, March 15, 2009
By ERIC AASEN and JOE SIMNACHER / The Dallas Morning News
Matt Martinez Jr., the colorful and charismatic restaurateur who injected his own culinary flair into his family's Tex-Mex legacy, died Friday night of complications from cancer. He was 63.
In Dallas, Mr. Martinez was best known for his Matt's Rancho Martinez, a popular Lakewood eatery.
In Dallas, Mr. Martinez was best known for his Matt's Rancho Martinez, a popular Lakewood eatery.
[Read more here.]
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
Chasing donors. . .
Here's a must read for anyone involved in the non-profit sector, anyone who works with donors or any donor who cares about the work of solid non-profit organizations. Written by Donald G. McNeil, Jr., I picked it up from The New York Times (Tuesday, April 22, 2008, p. D6).
_____________________________
Donor Attention-Deficit Disorder? Phony Press Release Is Joke, Sort Of
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Since it was issued on April 1 by the Center for Global Development, an antipoverty study group, a mock press release titled “Road to Health: Paved With Good Inventions” has been circulating among global health experts. Though it drones on in admin-speak, it elicits rueful laughter.
“Officials from 50 of the world’s poorest countries announce the pre-launch of a new initiative to fight one of the greatest scourges in global health,” it begins. “The Global Partnership to Battle Donor Attention Deficit Disorder (to be known as GloPBADD) will develop preventive and therapeutic drugs and devices to increase the ability of those in the global health community to sustain their attention for up to two decades.”
The release envisions a new drug that stretches donors’ attention spans and contains an antidepressant in case of “exposure to negative headlines.” Research would be financed by the airfare saved by canceling endless meetings with donors.
“It’s funny because there’s more than a grain of truth here,” said Chris Hentschel, president of the Medicines for Malaria Venture, who read it on his BlackBerry two weeks ago. “We all ratchet up appalling carbon footprints attending such meetings.”
The mock release added that the World Bank’s ability to “write the same things again and again for more than a decade” was “proof of concept” that donors could be strung along.
The author of the release, Ruth Levine, says people have taken the joke “in good spirits.”
“I’ve worked in global health since before it was cool,” Ms. Levine said. “This was an occasion to poke fun at some of its zanier tendencies.”
_________________________
Seriously now, I can relate! Any other non-profit folks or donors out there who relate to this? Let me hear from you.
Here's the link to the essay: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/health/22glob.html?_r=1&sq=
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_____________________________
Donor Attention-Deficit Disorder? Phony Press Release Is Joke, Sort Of
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Since it was issued on April 1 by the Center for Global Development, an antipoverty study group, a mock press release titled “Road to Health: Paved With Good Inventions” has been circulating among global health experts. Though it drones on in admin-speak, it elicits rueful laughter.
“Officials from 50 of the world’s poorest countries announce the pre-launch of a new initiative to fight one of the greatest scourges in global health,” it begins. “The Global Partnership to Battle Donor Attention Deficit Disorder (to be known as GloPBADD) will develop preventive and therapeutic drugs and devices to increase the ability of those in the global health community to sustain their attention for up to two decades.”
The release envisions a new drug that stretches donors’ attention spans and contains an antidepressant in case of “exposure to negative headlines.” Research would be financed by the airfare saved by canceling endless meetings with donors.
“It’s funny because there’s more than a grain of truth here,” said Chris Hentschel, president of the Medicines for Malaria Venture, who read it on his BlackBerry two weeks ago. “We all ratchet up appalling carbon footprints attending such meetings.”
The mock release added that the World Bank’s ability to “write the same things again and again for more than a decade” was “proof of concept” that donors could be strung along.
The author of the release, Ruth Levine, says people have taken the joke “in good spirits.”
“I’ve worked in global health since before it was cool,” Ms. Levine said. “This was an occasion to poke fun at some of its zanier tendencies.”
_________________________
Seriously now, I can relate! Any other non-profit folks or donors out there who relate to this? Let me hear from you.
Here's the link to the essay: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/health/22glob.html?_r=1&sq=
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Monday, January 28, 2008
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and volunteering
Last Friday, The Dallas Morning News published a piece I originally intended to post here in its Op-Ed section.
Taking the advice of several friends, I'll post it here:
King’s True Legacy: Justice not Volunteering
Several years ago lots of people got the idea that the best way to celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday was to organize a special day of community service.
You've likely heard it: "Not a day off, but a day on!" The idea being that the best way to honor Dr. King's memory and legacy would be discovered in organized volunteer efforts to extend compassion and aid to the less fortunate among us.
Here at Central Dallas Ministries we manage a rather large AmeriCorps program, so we received word from the Corporation for National Service that directed programs like ours all across the nation to orchestrate volunteer projects. Certainly nothing wrong with that.
I picked up on the same sentiment this week at the website of the White House Office for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Here's part of the post:
"President Bush marked the Martin Luther King Jr. King holiday by volunteering and calling on Americans to honor King’s legacy by showing compassion on the holiday and throughout the year.
"The President and First Lady Laura Bush joined dozens of volunteers at the Martin Luther King Jr. library as they repaired and shelved books and taught lessons about King’s life to children. More than a half million Americans are serving in 5,000 King Day of Service projects across the country.”
Here in Dallas, we enjoyed the commentary of popular Dallas Morning News columnist Steve Blow, who bemoaned the lack of organized community volunteer opportunities on this special day of national service ("Ready to go, nowhere to serve," January 20, 2008).
Don't get me wrong.
I'm all for seeing folks volunteer.
I believe in the value of community service.
Nothing beats genuine compassion and concern for others, especially those who are down and out, ill, mistreated, marginalized and neglected.
But, in my opinion, the continuing and growing effort to link the memory of Dr. King to a day of volunteering diminishes the real significance of his life, to say nothing of how badly it misses the mark in understanding his personal mission.
Dr. King didn't call folks to volunteer to help the poor. He wanted to know why so many people were poor in a nation of such opulence and wealth.
So far as I know, Dr. King never organized a food pantry or invited the rich to serve in soup kitchens. He asked hard questions about the meaning of hunger and homelessness to our collective, national soul.
He didn't call for mentors and volunteer projects in our public schools. No, Dr. King asked penetrating questions about the quality of education for all of our children.
Dr. King didn't just invite people to visit the hospitals where soldiers were returning home with severe injuries and lifelong disabilities caused by a terrible conflict in Southeast Asia. He asked why the war needed to continue at all.
He didn't wonder why more health care professionals weren't volunteering in indigent clinics. He challenged the nation to adopt a just universal health care policies to insure that every American received adequate and routine treatment.
The kinds of volunteer opportunities that Dr. King invited people to take part in often landed them in jail, not on the front page of the society section!
He asked people to march, to register to vote, to sit in, to resist and to confront systemic injustice and unfair laws. He asked people to lay down their very lives for the sorts of changes that made the American system better for everyone. His program didn't seek to simply meet needs. His vision called for the elimination of need.
Certainly, I see and often champion the value of community service. However, to redefine Dr. King's life and legacy in those terms limits his importance and drains his message of its power. And, frankly, such an emphasis lets us all off the hook when it comes to the fundamental and sweeping public policy changes still needing our attention and the full expression of our courage as a people.
[http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/
dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-james_25edi.ART.State.Edition1.37b7204.html]
.
Taking the advice of several friends, I'll post it here:
King’s True Legacy: Justice not Volunteering
Several years ago lots of people got the idea that the best way to celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday was to organize a special day of community service.
You've likely heard it: "Not a day off, but a day on!" The idea being that the best way to honor Dr. King's memory and legacy would be discovered in organized volunteer efforts to extend compassion and aid to the less fortunate among us.
Here at Central Dallas Ministries we manage a rather large AmeriCorps program, so we received word from the Corporation for National Service that directed programs like ours all across the nation to orchestrate volunteer projects. Certainly nothing wrong with that.
I picked up on the same sentiment this week at the website of the White House Office for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Here's part of the post:
"President Bush marked the Martin Luther King Jr. King holiday by volunteering and calling on Americans to honor King’s legacy by showing compassion on the holiday and throughout the year.
"The President and First Lady Laura Bush joined dozens of volunteers at the Martin Luther King Jr. library as they repaired and shelved books and taught lessons about King’s life to children. More than a half million Americans are serving in 5,000 King Day of Service projects across the country.”
Here in Dallas, we enjoyed the commentary of popular Dallas Morning News columnist Steve Blow, who bemoaned the lack of organized community volunteer opportunities on this special day of national service ("Ready to go, nowhere to serve," January 20, 2008).
Don't get me wrong.
I'm all for seeing folks volunteer.
I believe in the value of community service.
Nothing beats genuine compassion and concern for others, especially those who are down and out, ill, mistreated, marginalized and neglected.
But, in my opinion, the continuing and growing effort to link the memory of Dr. King to a day of volunteering diminishes the real significance of his life, to say nothing of how badly it misses the mark in understanding his personal mission.
Dr. King didn't call folks to volunteer to help the poor. He wanted to know why so many people were poor in a nation of such opulence and wealth.
So far as I know, Dr. King never organized a food pantry or invited the rich to serve in soup kitchens. He asked hard questions about the meaning of hunger and homelessness to our collective, national soul.
He didn't call for mentors and volunteer projects in our public schools. No, Dr. King asked penetrating questions about the quality of education for all of our children.
Dr. King didn't just invite people to visit the hospitals where soldiers were returning home with severe injuries and lifelong disabilities caused by a terrible conflict in Southeast Asia. He asked why the war needed to continue at all.
He didn't wonder why more health care professionals weren't volunteering in indigent clinics. He challenged the nation to adopt a just universal health care policies to insure that every American received adequate and routine treatment.
The kinds of volunteer opportunities that Dr. King invited people to take part in often landed them in jail, not on the front page of the society section!
He asked people to march, to register to vote, to sit in, to resist and to confront systemic injustice and unfair laws. He asked people to lay down their very lives for the sorts of changes that made the American system better for everyone. His program didn't seek to simply meet needs. His vision called for the elimination of need.
Certainly, I see and often champion the value of community service. However, to redefine Dr. King's life and legacy in those terms limits his importance and drains his message of its power. And, frankly, such an emphasis lets us all off the hook when it comes to the fundamental and sweeping public policy changes still needing our attention and the full expression of our courage as a people.
[http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/
dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-james_25edi.ART.State.Edition1.37b7204.html]
.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Taylor Branch to Dallas
The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture will host its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration symposium on Monday evening, January 21, 2008 from 7:00 to 8:45 p.m. at The Belo Mansion. Central Dallas Ministries is very proud to be one of the community organizations co-sponsoring the event.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning author Taylor Branch will be the distinguished speaker. Branch's epic trilogy, America in the King Years, won him the coveted prize.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning author Taylor Branch will be the distinguished speaker. Branch's epic trilogy, America in the King Years, won him the coveted prize. The title of Branch's lecture for the evening: "An Audacious Faith: The Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr."
Following his presentation, our own Gerald Britt will be one of the panelists leading a discussion of Dr. King's legacy and Mr. Branch's commentary. It will be a wonderful evening in honor of Dr. King.
The Belo Mansion is located at 2101 Ross Avenue on the Arts District side of Downtown Dallas.
Admission is by reservation only and costs $20 per seat, with school teachers receiving a nice discount at $10 per seat.
To register call 214.871.2440 or go online at http://www.dallasinstitute.org/.
If you are in or near Dallas on this special night, you should plan on attending.
Following his presentation, our own Gerald Britt will be one of the panelists leading a discussion of Dr. King's legacy and Mr. Branch's commentary. It will be a wonderful evening in honor of Dr. King.
The Belo Mansion is located at 2101 Ross Avenue on the Arts District side of Downtown Dallas.
Admission is by reservation only and costs $20 per seat, with school teachers receiving a nice discount at $10 per seat.
To register call 214.871.2440 or go online at http://www.dallasinstitute.org/.
If you are in or near Dallas on this special night, you should plan on attending.
.
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