"The first victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by fear. I do not wish to impose my truth, nor do I wish you to impose yours on me. We are going to seek the truth together’. THIS IS THE LIBERATION WHICH WE ARE PROCLAIMING."
Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas (2002)
“I will never be able to go back to Sweden without knowing inside myself
that I'd done all a man could do to save as many Jews as possible.”
- Raoul Wallenberg, Letter and Dispatches 1924 - 1944
"From
mid-May to the beginning of July 1944, some 440,000 Hungarian Jews were
deported to Auschwitz – the fastest, cruelest, and most efficient
killing field in the Holocaust. Wallenberg arrived as a member of the
Swedish Legation in Budapest in mid-July 1944. In a remarkable
demonstration of ingenuity and inspiration, bluff and bravado, he
rescued some 100,000 Jews in the last six months of 1944 and the
beginning of 1945, more than any other single government or
organization."
Nonviolent resistance to the radical evil of the Nazis by courageous Danes and German housewives also worked and saved thousands of Jewish people from the Holocaust.
It should come as no surprise that Wallenberg was abducted by Soviet Communist forces. The Nazis and the Soviets had been partners in the partition and conquest of Poland six years prior, in September 1939.
Today, on #RaoulWallenberg Commemorative Day, we honour the enduring legacy of Swedish diplomat and hero of the Holocaust Raoul Wallenberg, a hero who refused to be a bystander. We also mark 80 years since his disappearance into the Soviet Gulag- a profound and ongoing injustice.… pic.twitter.com/54p7TdQRFb
— Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (@TheRWCHR) January 17, 2025
Let us honor Raoul Wallenberg for all the lives he saved, and let us also continue to demand justice for him, who had his life taken by Josef Stalin. The Russians refuse to reveal what they did to Wallenberg, and his family has filed a lawsuit against them. In 2016, Sweden declared him dead.
Today marks the 80th anniversary of the disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg.
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg displayed outstanding civil courage and bravery when he saved tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust.
"Nonviolence
is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles
the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals." - Reverend Martin
Luther King Jr., Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964
Martin Luther King Jr. January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
was born in Atlanta, Georgia 95 years ago today, but he never lived to
see his 40th birthday because he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
A little more than a year before his untimely death, the nonviolent icon delivered an important speech at Stanford University that is well worth hearing and studying.
"Let me say as I've always said, and I will always continue to say, that
riots are socially destructive and self-defeating. I'm still convinced
that nonviolence
is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their
struggle for freedom and justice. I feel that violence will only create
more social problems than they will solve."
Dr. King's message is still relevant today, and his family works at The King Center to teach new generations about nonviolence and to share his writings and speeches.
Reverend King's political philosophy is best described as Christian Democracy. This school of thought, which includes parties on the center left and center right, is based, like Reverend King, on a Christian view of humanity in which "every individual is considered unique and must be treated with dignity." In his April 4, 1967 speech, Beyond Vietnam gave full expression to this outlook:
"We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a
person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and
property rights are considered more important than people, the giant
triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation are incapable
of being conquered. A true revolution of values will soon cause us to
question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present
policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on
life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must
come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men
and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their
journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin
to a beggar. It comes to see than an edifice which produces beggars
needs restructuring. "
Mohandas Gandhi, a major influence on King, advocated for social responsibility and trusteeship. Gandhi, a self-described socialist, was not an enthusiastic supporter of an expanded social-welfare state, arguing:
"The State represents violence in a concentrated and organized form. The
individual has a soul, but as the State is a soulless machine, it can
never be weaned from violence to which it owes its very existence. Hence
I prefer the doctrine of trusteeship. [...] What I would personally
prefer would be not centralization of power in the hands of the State,
but an extension of the sense of trusteeship, as, in my opinion, the
violence of private ownership is less injurious than the violence of the
State. However, if it is unavoidable, I would support a minimum of
State-ownership."
Furthermore, both King and Gandhi's
critique of a "thing-oriented" society or the state as a "soulless
machine" focuses on the person or the individual rather than an economic
mechanism or economic class. The emphasis is on the human person and
policies that recognize and respect the uniqueness and dignity of each
human being.
King was targeted by both the FBI and the KGB
KGB targeted Martin Luther King Jr. for active measures.
When he was alive, the civil rights leader was a divisive figure. The FBI in the United States wiretapped Martin Luther King Jr., monitored the Civil Rights Movement, and took active measures against him. Many
people are aware of this, but few are aware of the other campaign
launched against the civil rights leader by Soviet intelligence, also
known as the KGB. It is also important to remember that Russian intelligence operatives have previously attempted to sow discord, division, and hatred among citizens in the United States.
A
high-ranking Russian intelligence officer defected to the United
Kingdom in 1992, bringing with him notes and transcripts compiled over
the previous thirty years as he relocated entire foreign intelligence
archives to a new headquarters just outside of Moscow. Vasili Mitrokhin
was the Russian intelligence officer whose information became known as The Mitrokhin Archive.
The following excerpts from The Sword and the Shield detail elements of the Soviet intelligence campaign and the active measures arrayed against the civil rights leader:
“In
August 1967 the Centre approved an operational plan by the deputy head
of Service A, Yuri Modin, former controller of the Magnificent Five, to
discredit King and his chief lieutenants by placing articles in the
African press, which could then be reprinted in American newspapers,
portraying King as an “Uncle Tom” who was secretly receiving government
subsidies to tame the civil rights movement and prevent it threatening
the Johnson administration."
[...]
"King’s assassination on
April 4, 1968 was quickly followed by the violence and rioting which the
KGB had earlier blamed King for trying to prevent. Within a week riots
erupted in over a hundred cities, forty-six people had been killed,
3,500 injured and 20,000 arrested. To “Deke” DeLoach, it seemed that,
“The nation was teetering on the brink of anarchy.”86 Henceforth,
instead of dismissing King as an Uncle Tom, Service A portrayed him as a
martyr of the black liberation movement and spread conspiracy theories
alleging that his murder had been planned by white racists with the
connivance of the authorities."
On September 28, 1999, University of Cambridge professor Christopher Andrew, who coauthored The Sword and the Shield
with Vasili Mitrokhin, was interviewed by Charlie Rose on PBS about the
book and, near the end of the interview, discussed how the Soviets
celebrated the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. by James Earl
Ray. The Russians rejoiced because they did not want an independent
African American leader over whom they had no control and who practiced principled nonviolence.
Taylor Branch wrote about the Reverend's views on the militant call to armed struggle
in the streets of the United States in January 1968 in the third book
of his trilogy on Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, At Canaan's Edge.
“Riots just don’t pay off,” said King. He pronounced them an objective failure
beyond morals or faith. “For if we say that power is the ability to
effect change, or the ability to achieve purpose,” he said, “then it is
not powerful to engage in an act that does not do that–no matter how
loud you are, and no matter how much you burn.” Likewise, he exhorted
the staff to combat the “romantic illusion” of guerrilla warfare in the
style of Che Guevara. No “black” version of the Cuban revolution could
succeed without widespread political sympathy, he asserted, and only a
handful of the black minority itself favored insurrection. King extolled
the discipline of civil disobedience instead, which he defined not as a
right but a personal homage to untapped democratic energy. The staff
must “bring to bear all of the power of nonviolence on the economic
problem,” he urged, even though nothing in the Constitution promised a
roof or a meal. “I say all of these things because I want us to know the
hardness of the task,” King concluded, breaking off with his most basic
plea: “We must not be intimidated by those who are laughing at
nonviolence now.”
These words are as true
today as they were over a half-century ago. Reverend King's legacy
continues to inspire activists worldwide. This Baptist minister who
risked everything for the freedom of all African Americans and the
redemption of the United States by fulfilling the creed that all men are
created equal.
95 years ago today, a King was born.
He was a dreamer…and so much more.
A defender of those being oppressed and a challenger of oppressors.
A student of the human condition and a strategist for humane change.
— The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center (@TheKingCenter) January 15, 2024
Unlike others who were funded and supported by the Soviet Union,
Martin Luther King Jr. was targeted by both American and Russian
intelligence agencies because he was his own man, with no one
controlling him except his conscience. He did not advocate or engage in
violence while changing the United States and the world for the better.
Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter, is hosting the
aforementioned Beloved Community Global Summit and carrying on her
father's work to advance nonviolence.
Today, on what would have
been his 95th birthday, let us remember him and renew our commitment to
continuing his work "to shift from a thing-oriented society to a
person-oriented society."
Let us participate in the King
Center's day of service today, and if you are in the Atlanta area,
please join the King family in carrying on Reverend Martin Luther King
Jr.'s mission.
His legacy transcends borders, and ideologies. The Glenn Show explored it, and engaged in dialogue on what MLK Day is supposed to mean, and posted it today.
“I will never be able to go back to Sweden without knowing inside myself
that I'd done all a man could do to save as many Jews as possible.”
- Raoul Wallenberg, Letter and Dispatches 1924 - 1944
Raoul Wallenberg (August 4, 1912 - disappeared January 17, 1945)
Today is Raoul Wallenberg Day in Canada in honor of his couragous example. Irwin Cotler, a Canadian member of parliament, in an OpEd last year in Haaretz, described the last and most dramatic rescue carried out by Wallenberg:
"As the
Nazis advanced on Budapest and threatened to blow up the city’s ghetto
and liquidate the remaining Jews, [Wallenberg] put the Nazi generals on notice
that they would be held accountable and brought to justice, if not
executed, for their war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Nazi
generals desisted. Some 70,000 more Jews were saved, thanks to the
indomitable courage of one person prepared to confront radical evil."
Nonviolent resistance to the radical evil of the Nazis by courageous Danes and German housewives also worked and saved thousands of Jewish people from the Holocaust.
— Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (@TheRWCHR) January 16, 2023
Let us honor Raoul Wallenberg for all the lives he saved, and let us also continue to demand justice for him, who had his life taken by Josef Stalin. The Russians refuse to reveal what they did to Wallenberg, and his family has filed a lawsuit against them. In 2016, Sweden declared him dead.
Each year, on 17 January, we honour the memory of Raoul Wallenberg. The Swedish diplomat saved tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust.
Join us in lighting a candle today for Raoul, his humanitarian deeds and human solidarity! pic.twitter.com/sTyxeGHUu0
— Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (@SweMFA) January 17, 2023
"Nonviolence
is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles
the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals." - Reverend Martin
Luther King Jr., Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964
Martin Luther King Jr. January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia 94 years ago today, but he never lived to see his 40th birthday because he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
A little more than a year before his untimely death, the nonviolent icon delivered an important speech at Stanford University that is well worth hearing and studying.
"Let me say as I've always said, and I will always continue to say, that
riots are socially destructive and self-defeating. I'm still convinced
that nonviolence
is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their
struggle for freedom and justice. I feel that violence will only create
more social problems than they will solve."
Dr. King's message is still relevant today, and his family works at The King Center to teach new generations about nonviolence and to share his writings and speeches.
#DearCoretta, a collaborative effort from The King Center and @Microsoft, is an homage to #CorettaScottKing, our founder and the architect of the King legacy.
Reverend King's political philosophy is best described as Christian Democracy. This school of thought, which includes parties on the center left and center right, is based, like Reverend King, on a Christian view of humanity in which "every individual is considered unique and must be treated with dignity." In his April 4, 1967 speech, Beyond Vietnam gave full expression to this outlook:
"We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a
person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and
property rights are considered more important than people, the giant
triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation are incapable
of being conquered. A true revolution of values will soon cause us to
question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present
policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on
life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must
come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men
and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their
journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin
to a beggar. It comes to see than an edifice which produces beggars
needs restructuring. "
Mohandas Gandhi, a major influence on King, advocated for social responsibility and trusteeship. Gandhi, a self-described socialist, was not an enthusiastic supporter of an expanded social-welfare state, arguing:
"The State represents violence in a concentrated and organized form. The
individual has a soul, but as the State is a soulless machine, it can
never be weaned from violence to which it owes its very existence. Hence
I prefer the doctrine of trusteeship. [...] What I would personally
prefer would be not centralization of power in the hands of the State,
but an extension of the sense of trusteeship, as, in my opinion, the
violence of private ownership is less injurious than the violence of the
State. However, if it is unavoidable, I would support a minimum of
State-ownership."
Furthermore, both King and Gandhi's critique of a "thing-oriented" society or the state as a "soulless machine" focuses on the person or the individual rather than an economic mechanism or economic class. The emphasis is on the human person and policies that recognize and respect the uniqueness and dignity of each human being.
King was targeted by both the FBI and the KGB
KGB targeted Martin Luther King Jr. for active measures.
When he was alive, the civil rights leader was a divisive figure. The FBI in the United States wiretapped Martin Luther King Jr., monitored the Civil Rights Movement, and took active measures against him. Many
people are aware of this, but few are aware of the other campaign
launched against the civil rights leader by Soviet intelligence, also
known as the KGB. It is also important to remember that Russian intelligence operatives have previously attempted to sow discord, division, and hatred among citizens in the United States.
A high-ranking Russian intelligence officer defected to the United Kingdom in 1992, bringing with him notes and transcripts compiled over the previous thirty years as he relocated entire foreign intelligence archives to a new headquarters just outside of Moscow. Vasili Mitrokhin was the Russian intelligence officer whose information became known as The Mitrokhin Archive.
The following excerpts from The Sword and the Shield detail elements of the Soviet intelligence campaign and the active measures arrayed against the civil rights leader:
“In
August 1967 the Centre approved an operational plan by the deputy head
of Service A, Yuri Modin, former controller of the Magnificent Five, to
discredit King and his chief lieutenants by placing articles in the
African press, which could then be reprinted in American newspapers,
portraying King as an “Uncle Tom” who was secretly receiving government
subsidies to tame the civil rights movement and prevent it threatening
the Johnson administration."
[...]
"King’s assassination on
April 4, 1968 was quickly followed by the violence and rioting which the
KGB had earlier blamed King for trying to prevent. Within a week riots
erupted in over a hundred cities, forty-six people had been killed,
3,500 injured and 20,000 arrested. To “Deke” DeLoach, it seemed that,
“The nation was teetering on the brink of anarchy.”86 Henceforth,
instead of dismissing King as an Uncle Tom, Service A portrayed him as a
martyr of the black liberation movement and spread conspiracy theories
alleging that his murder had been planned by white racists with the
connivance of the authorities."
On September 28, 1999, University of Cambridge professor Christopher Andrew, who coauthored The Sword and the Shield with Vasili Mitrokhin, was interviewed by Charlie Rose on PBS about the book and, near the end of the interview, discussed how the Soviets celebrated the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. by James Earl Ray. The Russians rejoiced because they did not want an independent African American leader over whom they had no control and who practiced principled nonviolence.
Taylor Branch wrote about the Reverend's views on the militant call to armed struggle in the streets of the United States in January 1968 in the third book of his trilogy on Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, At Canaan's Edge.
“Riots just don’t pay off,” said King. He pronounced them an objective failure
beyond morals or faith. “For if we say that power is the ability to
effect change, or the ability to achieve purpose,” he said, “then it is
not powerful to engage in an act that does not do that–no matter how
loud you are, and no matter how much you burn.” Likewise, he exhorted
the staff to combat the “romantic illusion” of guerrilla warfare in the
style of Che Guevara. No “black” version of the Cuban revolution could
succeed without widespread political sympathy, he asserted, and only a
handful of the black minority itself favored insurrection. King extolled
the discipline of civil disobedience instead, which he defined not as a
right but a personal homage to untapped democratic energy. The staff
must “bring to bear all of the power of nonviolence on the economic
problem,” he urged, even though nothing in the Constitution promised a
roof or a meal. “I say all of these things because I want us to know the
hardness of the task,” King concluded, breaking off with his most basic
plea: “We must not be intimidated by those who are laughing at
nonviolence now.”
These words are as true today as they were over a half-century ago. Reverend King's legacy continues to inspire activists worldwide. This Baptist minister who risked everything for the freedom of all African Americans and the redemption of the United States by fulfilling the creed that all men are created equal.
94.
Today is your 94th birthday.
Everything you could have said about the human condition & how to improve it, you said. With courageous action.
Will we see in 2023 that honoring you = more than statues & quotes?
Unlike others who were funded and supported by the Soviet Union, Martin Luther King Jr. was targeted by both American and Russian intelligence agencies because he was his own man, with no one controlling him except his conscience. He did not advocate or engage in violence while changing the United States and the world for the better.
Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter, is hosting the aforementioned Beloved Community Global Summit and carrying on her father's work to advance nonviolence.
Today, on what would have been his 94th birthday, let us remember him and renew our commitment to continuing his work "to shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society."
Let us participate in the King Center's day of service tomorrow, and if you are in the Atlanta area, please join the King family in carrying on Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s mission.
We need you, #Atlanta. @TheKingCenter is hosting a Donation Drive on #MLKDay2023, Monday, January 16th. DONATE items for our unsheltered and homeless neighbors from 11am-3pm that day at The King Center.
"Nonviolence
is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles
the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals." - Reverend Martin
Luther King Jr., Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964
Martin Luther King Jr. January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was born 93 years ago today in Atlanta, Georgia but never saw his 40th birthday because he
was assassinated on April 4, 1968. A little over a year before his
untimely death the nonviolent icon made an important speech at Stanford University which is worth listening to and studying.
"Let me say as I've always said, and I will always continue to say, that
riots are socially destructive and self-defeating. I'm still convinced
that nonviolence
is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their
struggle for freedom and justice. I feel that violence will only create
more social problems than they will solve."
Dr. King's message remains relevant today and his family continues to work at The King Center in training new generations in the ways of nonviolence, and sharing his writings and speeches. They are introducing a new immersive, self-paced online learning experience in nonviolence.
— The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center (@TheKingCenter) January 15, 2022
Martin Luther King Jr. had a radical critique of American society.He repeatedly challenged the United States to live up to its own aspired ideals and sought through nonviolent action and democratic norms, reforms to end segregation and ensure voting rights for African Americans.
Reverend King's political outlook could best be described as falling within what is called Christian Democracy. This school of thought occupies the center with parties on the center left and the center right, but like Reverend King based on a Christian view of humanity in which "every individual is considered unique and must be treated with dignity." In his April 4, 1967 speech, Beyond Vietnam gave full expression to this outlook:
"We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a
person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and
property rights are considered more important than people, the giant
triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation are incapable
of being conquered. A true revolution of values will soon cause us to
question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present
policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on
life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must
come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men
and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their
journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin
to a beggar. It comes to see than an edifice which produces beggars
needs restructuring. "
Mohandas Gandhi, who greatly influenced King, also spoke of social responsibility and trusteeship. Gandhi, a self-described socialist, was not an enthusiastic proponent of an expanded social-welfare state as commonly understood arguing:
"The State represents violence in a concentrated and organized form. The
individual has a soul, but as the State is a soulless machine, it can
never be weaned from violence to which it owes its very existence. Hence
I prefer the doctrine of trusteeship. [...] What I would personally
prefer would be not centralization of power in the hands of the State,
but an extension of the sense of trusteeship, as, in my opinion, the
violence of private ownership is less injurious than the violence of the
State. However, if it is unavoidable, I would support a minimum of
State-ownership."
Furthermore the critique made by both King and Gandhi
of a "thing-oriented" society or the state as a "soulless machine"
looks to the person or the individual not an economic mechanism or
economic class. The focus is on the human person and polices that
recognize and respect the uniqueness of each human being and their
dignity.
— The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center (@TheKingCenter) January 13, 2022
Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter Bernice King is hosting the above Beloved Community Global Summit and continuing her father's work to advance nonviolence.
When he was alive the civil rights leader was considered a controversial figure. The American FBI wiretapped Martin Luther King Jr., monitored the Civil Rights Movement, and carried out active measures
against him. Many have heard about this, but not
of the other campaign waged against the civil rights leader by Soviet
intelligence, also known as the KGB. It is also important to remember
that today when Russian intelligence operatives seek to sow discord,
division and hatred in the United States between citizens that they did it before.
In 1992 a high ranking Russian intelligence officer defected to the
United Kingdom and brought with him notes and transcripts compiled over
the previous thirty years as he moved entire foreign intelligence
archives to a new headquarters just outside of Moscow. The Russian
intelligence officer’s name was Vasili Mitrokhin and the information he
gathered became known as The Mitrokhin Archive.
KGB targeted Martin Luther King Jr. for active measures.
Pages 237 and 238 of The Sword and the Shield excerpted below detail elements of the campaign waged by Soviet intelligence and the active measures arrayed against the civil rights leader:
“In
August 1967 the Centre approved an operational plan by the deputy head
of Service A, Yuri Modin, former controller of the Magnificent Five, to
discredit King and his chief lieutenants by placing articles in the
African press, which could then be reprinted in American newspapers,
portraying King as an “Uncle Tom” who was secretly receiving government
subsidies to tame the civil rights movement and prevent it threatening
the Johnson administration." [...] "King’s assassination on
April 4, 1968 was quickly followed by the violence and rioting which the
KGB had earlier blamed King for trying to prevent. Within a week riots
erupted in over a hundred cities, forty-six people had been killed,
3,500 injured and 20,000 arrested. To “Deke” DeLoach, it seemed that,
“The nation was teetering on the brink of anarchy.”86 Henceforth,
instead of dismissing King as an Uncle Tom, Service A portrayed him as a
martyr of the black liberation movement and spread conspiracy theories
alleging that his murder had been planned by white racists with the
connivance of the authorities."
University of Cambridge professor Christopher Andrew, who coauthored The Sword and the Shield
with Vasili Mitrokhin was interviewed by Charlie Rose on PBS on
September 28, 1999
about the book and towards the end of the interview discussed how the
Soviets celebrated when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James
Earl Ray. The Russians celebrated because they did not want an
independent African American leader, that they could not control, who was a principled nonviolence practitioner.
Taylor Branch, in the third book of his trilogy on Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, At Canaan's Edge wrote about the Reverend's views on the militant call to armed struggle in the streets of the United States in January of 1968.
“Riots just don’t pay off,” said King. He pronounced them an objective failure
beyond morals or faith. “For if we say that power is the ability to
effect change, or the ability to achieve purpose,” he said, “then it is
not powerful to engage in an act that does not do that–no matter how
loud you are, and no matter how much you burn.” Likewise, he exhorted
the staff to combat the “romantic illusion” of guerrilla warfare in the
style of Che Guevara. No “black” version of the Cuban revolution could
succeed without widespread political sympathy, he asserted, and only a
handful of the black minority itself favored insurrection. King extolled
the discipline of civil disobedience instead, which he defined not as a
right but a personal homage to untapped democratic energy. The staff
must “bring to bear all of the power of nonviolence on the economic
problem,” he urged, even though nothing in the Constitution promised a
roof or a meal. “I say all of these things because I want us to know the
hardness of the task,” King concluded, breaking off with his most basic
plea: “We must not be intimidated by those who are laughing at
nonviolence now.”
These words remain as true today as when he uttered them a half century ago. Reverend King's legacy continues to inspire activists
from around the world. This Baptist minister who risked all for the
freedom of all African Americans and the redemption of the United States
through the fulfillment of its creed that all men are created equal.
Unlike others, who were funded and supported by the Soviet Union, Martin Luther King Jr was targeted by both American and Russian intelligence agencies because he was his own man, and not controlled by anyone, save his conscience. He didn't advocate or engage in violence and changed the United States and the world for the better.
Let us remember him today on what would have been his 93rd birthday, and
recommit ourselves to continuing his work "to shift from a
thing-oriented society to a
person-oriented society."
“I will never be able to go back to Sweden without knowing inside myself
that I'd done all a man could do to save as many Jews as possible.”
- Raoul Wallenberg, Letter and Dispatches 1924 - 1944
Raoul Wallenberg (August 4, 1912 - disappeared January 17, 1945)
Today is Raoul Wallenberg Day in Canada in honor of his couragous example. Irwin Cotler, a Canadian member of parliament, in an OpEd today in Haaretz, described the last and most dramatic rescue carried out by Wallenberg:
"As the
Nazis advanced on Budapest and threatened to blow up the city’s ghetto
and liquidate the remaining Jews, [Wallenberg] put the Nazi generals on notice
that they would be held accountable and brought to justice, if not
executed, for their war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Nazi
generals desisted. Some 70,000 more Jews were saved, thanks to the
indomitable courage of one person prepared to confront radical evil."
Nonviolent resistance to the radical evil of the Nazis by courageous Danes and German housewives also worked and saved thousands of Jewish people from the Holocaust.
Let us honor Raoul Wallenberg for all the lives he saved, and let us also continue to demand justice for him, who had his life taken by Josef Stalin. The Russians refuse to reveal what they did to him, and Wallenberg's family has sued the Russians. Sweden declared him dead in 2016.
When the Jews of Budapest were set to be deported in 1944, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg led an operation to save them. He paid a heavy price for his bravery: Wallenberg was detained, 75 years ago today, and was not seen from again. #WeRemember@UNESCO@AuschwitzMuseumpic.twitter.com/iS6VxCeKJ8
"Nonviolence
is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles
the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals." - Reverend Martin
Luther King Jr., Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. born 90 years ago today
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was born 90 years ago today in Atlanta, Georgia but never saw his 40th birthday because he
was assassinated on April 4, 1968. A little over a year before his
untimely death the nonviolent icon made an important speech at Stanford University which is worth listening to and studying.
"Let me say as I've always said, and I will always continue to say, that
riots are socially destructive and self-defeating. I'm still convinced
that nonviolence
is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their
struggle for freedom and justice. I feel that violence will only create
more social problems than they will solve."
Dr. King's message remains relevant today and his family continues to work at The King Center in training new generations in the ways of nonviolence, and sharing his writings and speeches.
#MLK: “Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people...Nonviolence is not a method for cowards.” Honoring a courageous King on his 90th birthday. #MLK90pic.twitter.com/p2LbqxOOuM
Martin Luther King Jr. had a radical critique of American society.He repeatedly challenged the United States to live up to its own aspired ideals and sought through nonviolent action and democratic norms, reforms to end segregation and ensure voting rights for African Americans.
Reverend King's political outlook could best be described as falling within what is called Christian Democracy. This school of thought occupies the center with parties on the center left and the center right, but like Reverend King based on a Christian view of humanity in which "every individual is considered unique and must be treated with dignity." In his April 4, 1967 speech, Beyond Vietnam gave full expression to this outlook:
"We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a
person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and
property rights are considered more important than people, the giant
triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation are incapable
of being conquered. A true revolution of values will soon cause us to
question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present
policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on
life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must
come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men
and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their
journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin
to a beggar. It comes to see than an edifice which produces beggars
needs restructuring. "
Mohandas Gandhi, who greatly influenced King, also spoke of social responsibility and trusteeship. Gandhi, a self-described socialist, was not an enthusiastic proponent of an expanded social-welfare state as commonly understood arguing:
"The State represents violence in a concentrated and organized form. The
individual has a soul, but as the State is a soulless machine, it can
never be weaned from violence to which it owes its very existence. Hence
I prefer the doctrine of trusteeship. [...] What I would personally
prefer would be not centralization of power in the hands of the State,
but an extension of the sense of trusteeship, as, in my opinion, the
violence of private ownership is less injurious than the violence of the
State. However, if it is unavoidable, I would support a minimum of
State-ownership."
Furthermore the critique made by both King and Gandhi
of a "thing-oriented" society or the state as a "soulless machine"
looks to the person or the individual not an economic mechanism or
economic class. The focus is on the human person and polices that
recognize and respect the uniqueness of each human being and their
dignity.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter Bernice King over twitter offers a thread of tweets with a few things to consider about her dad of which an essential part was understanding that, "He was not passive. Nonviolence is not passive. It is active, principled, love-centered noncooperation with evil."
Today, his birthday (#MLK90) thru Monday (#MLKDay), my father will be quoted more than he is during any other time throughout the year. A thread with a few things to consider about #MLK: pic.twitter.com/WLG0uvk8wi
When he was alive the civil rights leader was considered a controversial figure. The American FBI wiretapped Martin Luther King Jr., monitored the Civil Rights Movement, and carried out active measures against him. Many have heard about this, but not
of the other campaign waged against the civil rights leader by Soviet intelligence, also known as the KGB. It is also important to remember that today when Russian intelligence operatives seek to sow discord, division and hatred in the United States between citizens that they did it before.
March for Humanity in Atlanta, Georgia on April 8, 2018
In 1992 a high ranking Russian intelligence officer defected to the
United Kingdom and brought with him notes and transcripts compiled over
the previous thirty years as he moved entire foreign intelligence
archives to a new headquarters just outside of Moscow. The Russian intelligence officer’s name was Vasili Mitrokhin and the information he gathered became known as The Mitrokhin Archive.
Pages 237 and 238 of The Sword and the Shield excerpted below detail elements of the campaign waged by Soviet intelligence and the active measures arrayed against the civil rights leader:
“In
August 1967 the Centre approved an operational plan by the deputy head
of Service A, Yuri Modin, former controller of the Magnificent Five, to
discredit King and his chief lieutenants by placing articles in the
African press, which could then be reprinted in American newspapers,
portraying King as an “Uncle Tom” who was secretly receiving government
subsidies to tame the civil rights movement and prevent it threatening
the Johnson administration."
[...]
"King’s assassination on
April 4, 1968 was quickly followed by the violence and rioting which the
KGB had earlier blamed King for trying to prevent. Within a week riots
erupted in over a hundred cities, forty-six people had been killed,
3,500 injured and 20,000 arrested. To “Deke” DeLoach, it seemed that,
“The nation was teetering on the brink of anarchy.”86 Henceforth,
instead of dismissing King as an Uncle Tom, Service A portrayed him as a
martyr of the black liberation movement and spread conspiracy theories
alleging that his murder had been planned by white racists with the
connivance of the authorities."
University of Cambridge professor Christopher Andrew, who coauthored The Sword and the Shield with Vasili Mitrokhin was interviewed by Charlie Rose on PBS on September 28, 1999
about the book and towards the end of the interview discussed how the
Soviets celebrated when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James
Earl Ray. The Russians celebrated because they did not want an independent African American leader, that they could not control, who was a principled nonviolence practitioner.
Taylor Branch, in the third book of his trilogy on Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, At Canaan's Edge wrote about the Reverend's views on the militant call to armed struggle in the streets of the United States in January of 1968.
“Riots just don’t pay off,” said King. He pronounced them an objective failure
beyond morals or faith. “For if we say that power is the ability to
effect change, or the ability to achieve purpose,” he said, “then it is
not powerful to engage in an act that does not do that–no matter how
loud you are, and no matter how much you burn.” Likewise, he exhorted
the staff to combat the “romantic illusion” of guerrilla warfare in the
style of Che Guevara. No “black” version of the Cuban revolution could
succeed without widespread political sympathy, he asserted, and only a
handful of the black minority itself favored insurrection. King extolled
the discipline of civil disobedience instead, which he defined not as a
right but a personal homage to untapped democratic energy. The staff
must “bring to bear all of the power of nonviolence on the economic
problem,” he urged, even though nothing in the Constitution promised a
roof or a meal. “I say all of these things because I want us to know the
hardness of the task,” King concluded, breaking off with his most basic
plea: “We must not be intimidated by those who are laughing at
nonviolence now.”
Unlike others, who were funded and supported by the Soviet Union, Martin Luther King Jr was targeted by both American and Russian intelligence agencies because he was his own man, and not controlled by anyone, save his conscience. He didn't advocate or engage in violence and changed the United States and the world.
Let us remember him today on what would have been his 90th birthday, and recommit ourselves to continuing his work "to shift from a thing-oriented society to a
person-oriented society."
My father at the Berlin Wall, September 1964. In his speech there, he said Berlin was “a symbol of the divisions of men on the face of the Earth.” Today, let’s focus on how we can #BuildTheWill to end poverty, racism, gun violence, xenophobia & other evils. No wall. Will. #MLKpic.twitter.com/WWykWDtXmI
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