Moving toward May Day
This week, I am in Harlem to join in the celebrations of the life and work of Dr. Vincent Harding. We gathered at Riverside Church to explore his contributions to peace, especially his role in helping craft Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech, breaking his silence against the Vietnam War. King called for a radical revolution in values against racism, materialism, and militarism and for the creation of a new America, rooted in love and compassion. Over the years, Vincent worked to bring that vision to life. He encouraged and organized the intellectual foundations of Black Studies and helped establish the King Center, the Institute for the Black World, Veterans of Hope, and the National Council of Elders.
On Thursday evening, we watched a rough cut of a film about Vincent’s life and work. One section centers on Vincent’s role in writing early drafts of the Beyond Viet Nam speech. A vignette included King’s voice echoing from the pulpit at Riverside Church on April 4th, 1967. It was startling to hear his voice speak so clearly at this moment. The passage emphasized:
If we do not stop our war against the people of Vietnam immediately, the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horrible, clumsy, and deadly game we have decided to play. The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the lives of the Vietnamese people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways. In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war.
These words, spoken so long ago, could be offered tomorrow as we witness the continuing assaults by US military forces around the globe. Just the day before hearing these words, I watched the current president of the US speak on his decision to bomb of Iran. While much of Trump’s speech was incoherent, contradictory, and false, one thing was very clear. This administration revels in violence. Trump said we will bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.” He announced he will commit war crimes by bombing civilian infrastructure. He talked about lethality and death as easily as he does his golf scores.
We are at a moment when the deadliest power on earth is at the command of people who seem incapable of acting in moral or ethical ways. Their might and greed make right. Human life and that of the planet are of no consequence to them.
Much of Vincent’s life, like that of Dr. King, was to help us think about how to become more loving human beings and to become a better country, a compassionate country, a country that lived with respect for its neighbors and the earth upon which we all depend.
The hope for that kind of country is pulsing through the efforts to resist the death and destruction of this regime. More than 8 million of us took to the streets only a week ago. Many more of us will need to engage with our friends, family, and neighbors as we move toward the call to make May 1 a National Day of Collective Action that emphasizes creating a value-based democracy. Catching the scope of the challenges we face, organizers say:
Across the Country We are Standing Up AND demanding:
That we tax the rich so our families, not their fortunes, come first, No ICE. No war. No private army serving authoritarian power. Expand democracy. Hands off our vote.
Calling for workers over billionaires, No Kings propose a day of no work, no school, no shopping. We encourage you to visit the No Kings MayDayStrong website and take their pledge to participate.
At the close of the speech at Riverside, Dr. King spoke of the fierce urgency of now. He said:
We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation. We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.
Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world.
That struggle continues today. Vincent Harding would call upon us to step into that river and do our part in bringing beloved communities to life.