MLK Day

[BladesNBarrels]

As the country celebrates Martin Luther King Day, my memory goes to the 4 days after he was assassinated.
I was stationed at NAS Washington awaiting deployment.
The rioting started soon after word was broadcast by radio that MLK had been shot.
From Wikipedia:
...Crowds of as many as 20,000 overwhelmed the District's 3,100-member police force, and 11,850 federal troops and 1,750 D.C. National Guardsmen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_National_Guard) under orders of President (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States) Lyndon B. Johnson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson) arrived on the streets of D.C. to assist them.
Marines mounted machine guns on the steps of the Capitol and Army soldiers from the 3rd Infantry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_Infantry_Regiment) guarded the White House. At one point, on April 5, rioting reached within two blocks of the White House before rioters retreated.
The occupation of Washington was the largest of any American city since the Civil War. Mayor Washington imposed a curfew and banned the sale of alcohol and guns in the city.
By the time the city was considered pacified on Sunday, April 8, some 1,200 buildings had been burned, including over 900 stores....
My assigned duties were to patrol with the marines along the fence of the NAS.
We did take occasional gunfire from the highway near the fence, but soon traffic was banned and patrol cars with 3 law enforcement officials pulled over anyone who ventured out.
Most of the marines had just rotated back from Viet Nam and commented frequently that they had felt safer there than in our nation's Capitol.
I think it was then that I realized what an influence MLK had been.
Some of his quotes have a lot of meaning to me:
"I have decided to stick with love, hate is too great a burden to bear"
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that"
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"
and,
"Let no man pull you low enough to hate him"

Just some thoughts on this day.

[Sawin]

The world sure could use another MLK right now to help drive those sayings into the hearts and minds of those who are actively hating.

[Delfuego]

Thanks for posting this. On Martin Luther King day i always listen to some of his speeches. Every year I wonder why we only listen to them just on one day.

[Great-Kazoo]

Thanks for posting this. On Martin Luther King day i always listen to some of his speeches. Every year I wonder why we only listen to them just on one day.

Exactly. Like i posted elsewhere, on line. Imagine IF people took to heart Kings words, year round. Not only that BUT listened AND understood content, not color of skin.


Just as Christmas is a 1 day holiday. It's too bad people don't practice giving, all year round.

[Singlestack]

What MLK stood for is just so different than what the left is preaching. I have seen signs of them distorting or lying about him. The first sign I saw was in the dem debate when the vice-president elect was chastising the president elect for his lack of support for segregation, saying "I was the little girl on the bus". MLK was anti-segregation and most blacks hated it. Today I hear them say that MLK supported rioting, but they took what he said in an interview completely out of context.

I guess they can't kill the idea of MLK, so they will just lie about what he stood for. They say the winners write the history, so I guess we will all learn that MLK was all about black liberation theology and taught Rev Wright.

[Eric P]

All I see on social media is that white folk can't quote mlk because they shot him.

These poor brainwashed idiots...

[RblDiver]

Leftists today hate everything MLK stood for. They want to bring back segregation (see "No Whites Allowed" events and dorms etc), care about the color of their skin rather than content of character, etc.

[theGinsue]

Dr. King was an amazing man. He faced tremendous adversity throughout his life and died trying to bring about a world where all men and women could be treated equally, with respect, so long as their character was deserving. I appreciate that he encouraged strong, yet peaceful efforts to correct the wrongs of our society. His resolve was steadfast. It's an absolute shame someone felt threatened by his words and efforts enough to kill him. I would have loved to see what more he could have accomplished in his life had he been allowed to die of old age.

I'm also saddened to see how his teachings have been corrupted and twisted to what we see today and how violence is used in his name. I believe he would be appalled by how people are using his words to preach hate.

Dr. King is one of those I always think about when asked "If you could sit down and talk with any person in history, who would it be?"

[StagLefty]

Exactly. Like i posted elsewhere, on line. Imagine IF people took to heart Kings words, year round. Not only that BUT listened AND understood content, not color of skin.


Just as Christmas is a 1 day holiday. It's too bad people don't practice giving, all year round.

Amen !!!

[Martinjmpr]

I was 6 years old and in Kindergarten in April of 1968 and we lived in a suburb of DC. Dad was just a year out of the Army and worked as a civilian historian for the Office of the Chief of Military History (OCMH) at Fort McNair in Washington.

What I remember about that time is that the rioting caused the DC Police to close all the bridges across the Potomac River, so Dad had to work at the Pentagon. Since that messed up his car pool schedule, Mom had to put me, my older brother and younger sister (who hadn't yet started kindergarten) in the car and take Dad to work, and then she would drop my brother and I off at school and take my sister home.