Martin Luther King: “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”

Rosa sat

so that Martin could walk

so that Barack could run

so that our children can fly!

-as quoted by Rashid Burney, the day after Election Day 2008

Were he still with us, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., respected leader of the Civil Rights Movement and 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner , would celebrate his 80th birthday today. Yet, he was assassinated in his prime, and so he cannot.  Honolulu will have several events, including the annual parade in his honor.

When thinking about Dr. King, most people think about his I Have a Dream speech, delivered on August 28, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It includes some of these famous lines:

• I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
• I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
• Let freedom ring. And when this happen, and when we allow freedom ring – when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children – black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics – will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

But as the country prepares for its most historic Inauguration, in which Barack Obama will be sworn in as our first African-American president, I can only think that Dr. King’s I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech is more apropos. Delivered on April 3, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, the night before his assassination, he foreshadowed his own death, but also included one final message of hope:

• Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

• See it in color on YouTube (go to the 1:20 mark to start where I began quoting above)

I’m not even the first person to draw this parallel between Dr. King and President-Elect Obama.

And if Dr. King’s closing incantation sounds familiar, it’s probably because it’s the opening line to The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Note that the second line, “He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,” is the inspiration from which the John Steinbeck classic takes it title.

I’m not a very religious person, but I must say on this special observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, as we await the transformation of President-Elect Barack Obama to President Obama and note how far the country and the world have come in 40 years: Glory, glory, Hallelujah!

Let us go forward and honor Dr. King’s legacy by showing everyone how good the view from the mountaintop was, is, and should be.

Mahalo!

Tagged as: barack, barack obama, battle hymn of the republic, dr. king, free at last, glory, hallelujah, i have a dream, i've been to the mountaintop, martin luther king, martin luther king jr, mlk, nobel peace prize, obama, rashid burney, rev. dr. martin luther king jr