The presence of justice.
In August, 1963, Reverend Martin Luther King — imprisoned in Birmingham, Alabama for taking part in an anti-segregation demonstration — was on the receiving end of a public statement issued by a group of white religious leaders who asserted that while they agreed with King’s civil rights goals, he was pushing too hard, and too fast, for change.
Today “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” is as painfully relevant as it was over a half century ago. In his nearly 7,000 word handwritten response to the those who claimed to be racial justice allies but shared neither King’s sense of moral urgency nor his lived experiences as a black man, King eloquently makes the case that social justice cannot wait.
One passage in particular calls the conscience: “I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is…the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice,”
King’s words feel both historic and right-this-moment in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, and days of necessary, impassioned protests. What has endured alongside the racism and inequality that plagues so much of American life is the unwillingness of far too many Americans to confront it. And to enter into true common cause with the black, brown, and marginalized communities that are fighting, literally, for their lives.
Over the last few days, a word that I have heard over and over again to describe the conditions in our country and the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery is “heartbreaking.”
But it is not enough — it has never been enough — for our hearts to break over injustice. Compassion is only a starting point. Action — sustained, strategic, and insistent action — is what is necessary now.
Please Join World Without Exploitation in demanding police accountability through Campaign Zero…supporting the empowerment of black women and girls with Black Women’s Blueprint…campaigning against practices that hold Black People back through Color of Change…Investing in independent journalism that holds racist institutions accountable through the Invisible Institute…and supporting the poor, the powerless and the condemned through the Equal Justice Initiative.
Anne K. Ream is the founder of The Voices and Faces Project, an award-winning storytelling initiative and testimonial writing program, and the author of “Lived Through This,” her memoir of a multi-year, multi-country journey spent listening to survivors of sexual violence. She is a Founding Co-Chair at World Without Exploitation.
