#martinlutherkingjr

On August 31, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood before an audience of thousands while delivering a prophetic speech at the National Conference for New Politics in Chicago. Spoken less than a year before his assassination on April 4, 1968, he famously decried what he called “the three evils of society,” namely, the “giant triplets of racism, economic exploitation and militarism.”
These words still resonate powerfully today, conveying a resolute expression of truth to power. Yet more than half a century later, the three evils identified by King have either remained stubbornly entrenched or tragically increased, compounded by a mounting ecological crisis inimical to life itself.
Today, America celebrates the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. There will be speeches and essays about how far we have or have not come.
Many will ask what King would think of the United States today. What would he say about the rise of white nationalism? What would he say about an economy that benefits the few far more than it benefits the many? What would he have thought of nearly two decades of war this nation is unable to end?
In the spirit of honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. in a manner that is true to his vision, here is parts of one of his lesser-known speeches.
King delivered this speech at The National Conference for New Politics, which took place in Chicago over Labor Day weekend in 1967. Around 3,000 people, from hundreds of organizations, attended the conference which featured MLK as the keynote speaker. The goal was to unify political activists of all races who believed in civil rights and opposed the Vietnam War. President Lyndon B. Johnson felt so threatened by the conference, he instructed the FBI to attempt to track the attendants’ movements and thwart any long-term plans of the NCNP. As the commentary Revisiting MLK’s speech, ‘The 3 Evils of Society, ‘ suggests that this speech is the most prophetic and revolutionary address to date on the questions of militarism, poverty, and racism.
The club was a gathering of white politicians in Atlanta willing to listen to black civic leaders in settings they were barred from by segregation. He told the club that the 12 years of foment for civil rights - marches and boycotts and freedom rides - was ending because it had beaten Jim Crow even if the victory wasn’t clear to everyone.
“We are moving into a new phase of the struggle. The new phase is a struggle for genuine equality.”
Genuine equality was always going to be a much harder, longer struggle because white America is ambivalent about equality for others.
Nineteenth-century America freed the slaves, then gave them no tools to make something of their freedom. Laws granting voting rights and equal access to education were written and then ignored. Land taken from Native Americans and was given to European immigrants through westward land rushes provided an economic floor denied the descendants of African immigrants brought here centuries earlier in chains.
He knew talking about these issues would cost him support from the white community, and even put him in danger.
“There’re times when you must take a stand that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but you must do it because it is right.”
Fifty-five years after that speech in Atlanta and the evils he called out still exist.
The details of our America’s racism, poverty and war are different and yet the same.
Rest In Heaven Dr. King. Thank you so much for your Sacrifice and I will forever be grateful!