The Roots Of Environmental Justice
King’s final Christmas sermon connected peace with environmental justice
One of the roots of environmental justice began 50 years ago with a speech given on Christmas Eve by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Although he wasn’t one of the leading voices in what would become the environmental movement in the late 1960s and 1970s, he was starting to see the interconnections of so many of the issues around the world.
On that night in front of his parishioners, the whole essence of mutuality came to the forefront. “It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated,” King said. “We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Any injustice — whether it is economic, social or environmental — that is inflicted on one person ends up affecting us all.
If we are to fight for a clean and sustainable world, we must continue to fight for environmental justice, so that all people have access to clean air, clean water, unspoiled soil and healthy foods. We cannot leave anyone behind in our vision for a just world that treats all life with respect and honor. That isn’t a dream to be deferred any longer.
Link to full transcript: http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/christmas-sermon#
