Calvin O. Butts III - Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Service (undated) / Duke Chapel Recordings / Duke Digital Repository

(upbeat organ music)

0:01

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We are here tonight to give thanks

5:03

for the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr.

5:05

He told us that we can live together

5:10

in spite of our many differences.

5:12

We realize that there is still hurt and hatred in the world,

5:23

but we come tonight united as children as God.

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(organ music)

5:40

(choir singing)

6:49

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Let us pray.

10:30

Gracious God,

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we gather before you this night

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in this place of worship

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invoking your presence on our gathering.

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In the past, you've sent us great profits

10:47

to speak your word of truth.

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You've sent us the prophet Martin Luther King.

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He spoke to us words of comfort,

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but also words of truth.

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He knew how to soothe the troubled soul of people,

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and yet, he knew also how to inflame the conscience

11:10

of a complacent nation.

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O God, we recognize

11:20

that his life was a gift from you,

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that the words he spoke were words

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that he was empowered through your spirit to speak,

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that the great things that he accomplished

11:34

for his faithful, suffering, truthful people,

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all was accomplished through your guiding hand.

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And therefore, we begin this time together

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by seeking your presence even yet among us.

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Come touch us, we pray,

11:56

breathe your empowering spirit upon us.

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May each speaker be empowered with your words of truth,

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and more so, may our ears be opened

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to hear your truth in our time and place,

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for we need your presence,

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we need your word this night

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as much as ever before.

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And so, we are bold to invoke your presence among us,

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and may all that we do here be done for your glory,

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and that your kingdom of peace,

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justice and love may become a reality for us

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in our time and place, amen.

12:44

Be seated.

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Good evening.

13:07

I'm very happy to be here this evening

13:09

to bring greetings from the city of Durham,

13:11

the Durham city council

13:16

on this very wonderful occasion,

13:18

this occasion honoring the great Doctor Martin Luther King,

13:21

a person who I think is probably

13:26

one of the greatest Americans,

13:29

one of the greatest human beings that ever lived.

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It is fitting that we be here tonight

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to keep the dream alive.

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And I'm so happy to see all of you here.

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I'm happy to see the mix of people that are here,

13:46

because Martin Luther King

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was no respecter of color or persons,

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he loved everybody,

13:56

and his dream was that America

13:58

would come to a time where every one of us,

14:01

black and white,

14:05

would live free and in a just society.

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So, it's very good to see you here

14:11

to try to keep that dream alive.

14:14

And I want to say to you that dream is alive tonight,

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although I must say that the dream has not been satisfied,

14:23

that Doctor Martin Luther King dreamed of freedom,

14:28

justice, and equality for us all.

14:31

And tonight, I hope that we will rededicate ourselves

14:36

and pledge to ourselves that we will

14:40

continue to work very hard to make sure

14:43

that Doctor Martin Luther King's dream comes true.

14:47

We are in some very trying times,

14:51

especially for a man that exemplified peace and harmony

14:55

throughout the world.

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So, I think that we should and must continue to pray

15:03

for peace, harmony, righteousness, and justice,

15:06

and if we continue to do that,

15:11

I think that what we will have in the upcoming days

15:14

will be a better world.

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I know that we are upset at this given time

15:20

about what's happening in the Middle East,

15:22

and we differ, some of us,

15:24

about whether we should even be there.

15:26

But we must be proud of our young men that are there,

15:29

giving their, maybe, some of them already have

15:34

given their lives in the defense

15:38

of freedom and justice for all.

15:40

So, as the mayor of the city of Durham,

15:44

representing the city council and administration of Durham,

15:46

again, I want to welcome you here to this event

15:50

honoring this great leader,

15:53

and hope that you will go away from this place

15:56

rededicated to his dream

15:59

of freedom, justice, righteousness,

16:02

and equality for all,

16:06

thank you very much.

16:08

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There were three college students sitting on a pew.

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They were attendees of the King worship service

16:55

just like you.

16:59

A great spirit swept down

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and whispered in their ears,

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if you could in a few sentences,

17:06

please tell me why are you here?

17:09

The first student exclaimed

17:12

I am here to remember,

17:14

remember because, as Cicero said,

17:17

to be ignorant of what occurred

17:20

before or after you were born

17:21

is to remain always a child.

17:24

To remember the banished Jim Crow signs,

17:27

to remember the colorization of American politics,

17:30

to remember the birth of a new freedom,

17:34

yes, to remember.

17:37

The second student answered

17:40

I am here to celebrate,

17:42

celebrate because, Emerson stated,

17:45

in the mud and scum of things,

17:47

there always, always something sings.

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To celebrate the first black American

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honored by a national holiday,

17:57

to celebrate progress,

18:00

yeah, celebrate.

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The last student exclaimed I am here to renew,

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renew by studying, struggling,

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and preparing for the victory to come,

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to renew my commitment to peace,

18:14

to renew my courage to do what is right,

18:17

yes, renew.

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Well, the great spirit sighed, pondered,

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and then replied,

18:27

have you honestly come to remember the man?

18:29

Have you really come to celebrate the dream?

18:33

Have you truly come to renew the hope?

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If so, you have sincerely commemorated

18:40

Doctor Martin Luther King, thank you.

18:43

(applause)

18:46

(uplifting piano music)

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♪ Our love is ♪

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♪ Warmer than a smile ♪

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♪ It gives ♪

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♪ To ♪

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♪ Every needing child ♪

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♪ If anyone should ask you what you love ♪

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♪ Tell them this is true ♪

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♪ That God lets all his love flow out to you ♪

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♪ God's love ♪

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♪ Feeds ♪

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♪ More than just a face ♪

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♪ It spreads through ♪

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♪ All of time and space ♪

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♪ You know that everything about his love is ♪

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♪ Precious and true ♪

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♪ And it lets me spread all my love ♪

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♪ To you ♪

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♪ Let our love shine throughout the world ♪

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♪ To every mountain top and steeple ♪

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♪ Let it be felt by every soul ♪

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♪ Til love's ♪

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♪ All over ♪

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♪ Let it reach out to every heart ♪

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♪ To every distant foreign people ♪

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♪ Til it is present in the world ♪

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♪ Til love's ♪

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♪ All over ♪

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♪ Our love sees ♪

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♪ That love's the key to peace ♪

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♪ We'll pray til ♪

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♪ All world wars have ceased ♪

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♪ If you or anyone you know ♪

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♪ Enough to say they feel as weak ♪

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♪ Let our universal song, O Lord, be free ♪

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♪ Let our love shine throughout the world ♪

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♪ To every mountaintop and steeple ♪

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♪ Let it be felt by every soul ♪

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♪ Til love's ♪

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♪ All over ♪

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♪ Let it reach out to every heart ♪

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♪ To every distant foreign people ♪

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♪ Til it is present in the world ♪

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♪ Til love's ♪

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♪ All over ♪

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♪ Say words of love to all we see ♪

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♪ To let them know that love is equal ♪

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♪ Let us lift up humanity ♪

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♪ Til love's ♪

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♪ All over ♪

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♪ Til love's ♪

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♪ All over ♪

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♪ Til love's ♪

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♪ All over ♪

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♪ Til love's ♪

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♪ All over ♪

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♪ Til love's ♪

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♪ All over ♪

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♪ Til love's ♪

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♪ All over ♪

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(applause)

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-

Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord.

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Why would you have the day of the Lord?

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It is darkness and not light,

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as if a man fled from a lion

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and a bear met him,

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or went into the house

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and leaned with his hand against the wall,

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and a serpent bit him.

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Is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light?

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And gloom with no brightness in it?

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I hate, I despise your feasts,

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and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

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Even though you offer me your burnt offerings

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and cereal offerings,

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I will not accept them.

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And the peace offerings of your fatted beasts,

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I will not look upon.

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Take away from me the noise of your songs,

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to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

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But let justice roll down like the waters

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and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.

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Ladies and gentlemen,

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let me welcome you here tonight to this program

26:34

in honor of Doctor Martin Luther King.

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I'm pleased to be able to introduce

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the speaker of tonight.

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In 1985, I think it was,

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I first met our speaker.

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He was doing what he does best when we met,

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and that was to advocate for better treatment,

27:00

better support for children in New York City.

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Doctor Butts is a New York native,

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although he lived in New York,

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he spent many summers

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in rural Georgia

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where his grandmothers

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had a great influence on his life.

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While they were churchgoing people,

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and a young man was obligated

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to participate in those activities,

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and as we will see as his life developed,

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it had an influence on him

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that last until today.

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He participated in some of the first integration activities

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in the New York public schools,

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and after graduating,

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the south influenced him again,

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and he entered Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia,

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planning to complete a degree

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in industrial psychology.

28:16

But as the confluence of events would have it,

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Doctor Martin Luther King's assassination,

28:24

the influence and prevalence of religion in Atlanta,

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the potential for religious leaders

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to have an influence in shaping and developing

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the social structure of this country,

28:37

Doctor Butts changed his major to philosophy

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and graduated from Morehouse with a degree in that field.

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He went back to New York

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and entered union theological seminary,

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and in 1972, as events would have it,

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he became executive minister of Abyssinian Baptist Church.

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These events continued the influence

29:12

on his realization

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of the value of a religious leader

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in the communities of today.

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He earned his masters in church history

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from Union Theological Seminary

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in 1975,

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and a doctorate of ministry and church and public policy

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from Drew University in 1982.

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I met him in 1985,

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he was the spiritual leader of Abyssinian Baptist Church,

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he acted as the conscience

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of the black community in New York City,

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and in 1989, July,

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he became pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church.

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The events that shaped the direction

30:18

Doctor Butts took

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continues to influence his life and his work,

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his commitment to serving

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his congregation and the peoples around him.

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I think he is a fitting person to speak to us tonight

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because I think, and I believe,

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that his work and his life

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typifies the kind of person

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that Doctor King would have wanted

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to have all of us be.

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Of course, he's been and is chair of many boards,

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but I want to mention, and having you meet Doctor Butts,

30:59

his commitment to serving people

31:07

in Harlem in New York,

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his work at attempting to eliminate and remove

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billboards that

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are subject to lead young persons to drink,

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his concern with health,

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and his commitment to assisting and working

31:32

to develop more programs for persons

31:35

who are stricken with AIDS in New York City,

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his concern for housing,

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and his commitment to assisting and developing

31:44

more and appropriate housing

31:46

for people who are homeless in New York City.

31:48

I believe that Doctor Butts represents

31:55

the kind of person that Doctor King believed

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could enhance all of our lives

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to make us better persons

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and would serve to improve the possibility

32:08

for peace on Earth and goodwill toward all men.

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Ladies and gentlemen,

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it is my pleasure to introduce to you

32:18

Reverend Doctor Calvin L. Butts III,

32:22

who will be our major speaker tonight, thank you.

32:26

(applause)

32:33

(choir singing)

33:41

(applause)

37:12

-

Firstly, I'd like to thank Doctor Leonard Beckham

38:01

for the introduction this evening,

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and for the privilege of being able to stand in this place

38:07

here at Duke University.

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A special word of appreciation goes out

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to the Reverend Doctor William H. Willimon,

38:18

dean of the chapel,

38:20

for extending also the privilege

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of being able to stand in this sacred place.

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I want to thank Brother Michael Hunt

38:28

for all of his kindness,

38:30

and especially for my swift and safe ride from the airport.

38:32

And I am blessed to have come in

38:39

just at the beginning of the remarks

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of the honorable Chester Jenkins,

38:45

mayor of the city of Durham.

38:48

To all of these students

38:51

who have participated in the program thus far,

38:52

to the distinguished members of the faculty

38:56

and administration here at Duke University,

38:58

and to those persons who may be visiting here

39:02

from the local community,

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I greet you in peace,

39:08

grace and peace be unto you

39:10

from God the Father

39:13

and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

39:15

I am

39:18

somewhat anxious about being here

39:20

simply because

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I had to move so quickly to get here,

39:28

and I was scurrying to make sure

39:31

that I was in the airport in New York in enough time,

39:32

and I have learned about flying

39:37

that I don't like it,

39:40

and you go up and you go down

39:43

and my stomach rises and descends with the airplane.

39:45

My palms sweat, my knees knock together,

39:50

and my eyes roll to the back of my head.

39:53

Upon arriving, I saw a minister in the airport

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who noticed how pale I looked.

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He said son, why are you so pale?

40:01

I said I don't like to fly, it makes me nervous, I'm afraid.

40:03

And he said you should be ashamed,

40:07

you're a young clergy person,

40:08

God is with you on land, on sea, and in the air, you know?

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But I remember in Matthew where Jesus said lo,

40:14

I am with you.

40:18

And so therefore I'm glad to be here.

40:20

It's a little New York humor.

40:24

(applause)

40:27

A little New York humor, you know?

40:33

But I really do appreciate the invitation.

40:39

And certainly nothing gives me greater pleasure

40:43

than to be able to address you

40:46

concerning the life and the work

40:48

of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.

40:51

And I want to begin my talk with you this evening

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by raising a flag of caution.

41:01

Usually when people discuss the life and the work

41:07

of Doctor King,

41:10

they try

41:13

to compartmentalize him.

41:16

They try to put him in

41:19

certain categories

41:22

that would make him appealing to some of us,

41:25

but perhaps not all of us.

41:29

And I'm disturbed by that,

41:33

an I want you to be careful of it,

41:34

because I think it's dangerous to parochialize Doctor King.

41:37

Some people will say that

41:44

Doctor King was a great civil and human rights leader.

41:46

And, to be sure,

41:51

Doctor King was, in fact,

41:53

a great civil and human rights leader,

41:56

but he was much more than that.

41:58

Some people will say well,

42:03

Doctor King was a great black leader,

42:05

a great leader of the African-American community.

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And I would agree,

42:15

Doctor King, in fact, was a great African-American leader.

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But he was much more than that.

42:23

Some people will say oh, Martin Luther King Jr.

42:26

was a great orator,

42:29

he could really lay down a good stem winder.

42:31

He had the ability to relate to us

42:36

the rhetoric in a most eloquent way,

42:40

he was a master, if you will,

42:43

of the sacred rhetoric.

42:45

Martin Luther King Jr., yes,

42:48

was a great civil and human rights leader,

42:50

yes, he was a great

42:53

orator, and yes, Martin Luther King Jr. was,

42:57

with everything else, a great Baptist preacher,

43:01

but he was much more than all of these things.

43:04

And I think that the title

43:08

that makes Doctor King appealing

43:13

for all of us in this chapel

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and all of us across the United States of America

43:19

is to say that Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.

43:24

above all things

43:27

was a great American.

43:30

He was an American,

43:34

and he said it himself,

43:37

because we can never rehearse the life and work

43:39

of Doctor Martin Luther King

43:41

without calling upon his great speeches.

43:43

He said, when he talked about his dream,

43:47

that it was a dream deep rooted

43:49

in the American Dream.

43:53

He defined himself as a great American,

43:56

and if we allow

43:59

people to compartmentalize him,

44:01

people to parochialize him,

44:03

if we allow people to put him in certain categories,

44:06

we will miss the great impact that he had

44:09

for all of us in this nation called the United States.

44:12

He was a great American,

44:18

and he did not come full grown out of the head of Zeus

44:20

with his love for America,

44:25

he did not combust on a street corner

44:27

in Montgomery, Alabama.

44:30

Martin Luther King Jr. was nurtured in the incubator

44:32

of America,

44:37

and he picked up his love of this country

44:39

from great Americans who had gone before him.

44:43

You see, because in order to understand

44:47

Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.,

44:49

you must understand that he was a man

44:51

who stood on the shoulders of giants.

44:54

Martin Luther King Jr. believed in America

44:58

because he understood that

45:01

those before him believed in America.

45:03

In order to understand Martin Luther King Jr.,

45:07

you would have to understand Mordecai Johnson.

45:09

You would have to understand Mary McLeod Bethune.

45:13

You would have to understand Ida B. Wells

45:17

and Mary Church Terrell.

45:20

In order to understand Martin Luther King Jr.,

45:22

you would have to understand Howard Thurman

45:25

and Benjamin Elijah Mays.

45:28

You cannot understand Martin Luther King Jr.

45:32

apart from his nurturing by other great Americans

45:36

who taught him that America

45:39

was the place where he should cast his lot

45:42

and build his dreams on the foundation

45:46

that was found in the preamble

45:50

to that glorious document called the Constitution.

45:53

We hold these truths to be self evident

45:58

that all, allow me a little editorialism,

46:02

persons are created equal,

46:06

that they are endowed by their creator

46:08

with certain inalienable rights.

46:11

And among them are life, liberty,

46:15

and the pursuit of happiness.

46:17

Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.,

46:21

recognizing what he had inherited from his ancestors

46:24

and also what he had inherited

46:27

from the founding fathers, if you will,

46:30

of this nation,

46:32

decided to cast his lot with America.

46:34

And even though he recognized

46:40

that the ones who put pen to paper

46:44

and drafted that great document called the Constitution

46:47

were themselves hypocritical as regarded its words,

46:50

he still believed that what was on that paper

46:55

could be used to create

46:59

the land of the free

47:02

and the home of the brave.

47:05

But you know, it's never good, really,

47:09

to talk about men or women

47:10

who resembled Martin Luther King Jr.

47:13

without being able to put them

47:17

really in historical perspective.

47:20

And culturally, we as African-American people,

47:23

like to call upon our great cultural giants

47:27

to help us to focus on our religious

47:30

and political spokespersons.

47:33

So, I want to help you to understand

47:37

Martin Luther King Jr's dream of America

47:39

by going back to the turn of the 20th century.

47:43

I wanna find a black person in Harlem,

47:48

Harlem, that white scar,

47:52

that black scar on the alabaster underbelly

47:56

of a leviathan called Manhattan.

48:01

I wanna find a little black poet

48:04

who's name was Langston Hughes,

48:08

my oh my what a curious thing

48:11

to paint a poet black and bid him to sing.

48:14

But Langston Hughes did sing,

48:18

and I want you to hear what he said

48:20

in a poem called Let America

48:24

Be America Again.

48:28

Now, this poem has many stanzas to it,

48:31

but I wanna lift up just one stanza for you tonight.

48:33

Listen to what Langston Hughes wrote.

48:38

He said I am the poor white

48:41

fool and pushed apart,

48:44

I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.

48:47

I am the red man pushed from the land,

48:53

and I am the immigrant from Czechoslovakia,

48:59

from Greece, from Germany, from France, from England,

49:03

I am the immigrant from Korea, from Mexico, from Cuba,

49:07

I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek

49:12

and finding the same old stupid plan

49:16

of dog eat dog and mighty crush the weak.

49:20

Oh yes, I say it plain,

49:25

America never was America for me,

49:27

but yet I swear this oath,

49:30

America will be.

49:33

Langston Hughes wrote that poem in the early 20s,

49:37

and I want you to understand, my beloved friends,

49:43

that he lived in an America

49:47

where Jim Crow was the law of the land.

49:50

Langston Hughes lived in an America

49:53

where an African-American man was lynched

49:56

every few moments in the south.

49:59

Langston Hughes lived in an America where

50:02

in some parts, perhaps of even Durham at that time,

50:05

a black man had to jump off the sidewalk

50:09

in order for a white man to pass by.

50:12

But yet, when this poet wrote,

50:16

he saw an America made up of poor whites,

50:18

of the so-called Negro,

50:23

of the so called red man,

50:25

and of the immigrants coming from lands far away,

50:28

here was a man who had a vision of America that said

50:31

if America is going to really be America,

50:35

all of us have got to learn to live together,

50:39

poor white, so-called Negro,

50:43

red man, and immigrant.

50:45

O beautiful, for spacious skies,

50:49

for amber waves of grain,

50:53

for purple mountains majesty

50:55

above the fruited plain,

50:58

America, America, God shed his grace on thee,

51:01

and crown thy good with brotherhood

51:06

from sea to shining sea.

51:09

But how are you going to be my brother,

51:12

or how are you going to be my sister

51:15

when you don't even know my name?

51:18

And so, Martin Luther King Jr. said

51:23

if we're going to bring America together,

51:25

we've got to rise above our ignorance

51:28

and begin to learn who each other is

51:31

in terms of where we've come from

51:36

and what we've contributed to make America great.

51:38

Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us

51:42

that our ignorance keeps us apart,

51:45

and it creates hatred among us,

51:47

and because of our division, America is that much weaker,

51:50

for a house divided against itself

51:54

cannot stand.

51:57

So, Martin Luther King Jr.

51:59

made his way,

52:02

based on the thoughts of great Americans before him,

52:04

based on the foundation of the constitution,

52:08

and convinced that this nation could be great

52:11

if we would all come together

52:14

to build his beloved community

52:16

on love and the principle of love

52:19

that binds us together

52:22

because of our love for America.

52:24

I too sing America,

52:29

oh, I'm the darker brother, when company comes,

52:31

they send me to the kitchen.

52:33

And that's all right, I go to the kitchen,

52:35

and I eat, and I get fat and beautiful,

52:37

so when company comes again,

52:40

they'll see how beautiful I am

52:42

and no one will be ashamed of me.

52:43

Yes, I too sing America,

52:47

because this is my country.

52:50

Everyone wonders how America could be so rich and powerful,

52:55

I tell them that's no math test,

52:58

if you had all of us working for you

53:01

and paid us nothing for 200 years,

53:03

you could be rich and powerful also.

53:05

This is my country,

53:12

I farmed the land,

53:14

I worked in the factories and got a substandard wage

53:17

when everyone else was making more than I did.

53:21

This is my country,

53:24

I nursed the babies when their mothers didn't want them.

53:27

This is my country, I picked the cotton,

53:31

I cracked the tobacco, I cut the cane.

53:33

This is my country.

53:37

We've given America everything,

53:40

why, we've given America its only truly American music,

53:42

our subtle sense of song did that.

53:45

We gave America its only laughter and pathos,

53:48

its only fairytales and its mad money getting plutocracy.

53:50

This is my country.

53:55

As a matter of fact, in that city where I come from,

53:58

a barrier was built to protect the Dutch from the English

54:02

at the tip of Manhattan island.

54:06

You know who built the wall

54:08

after which Wall Street is named?

54:10

I did, I built it not only physically with my hands,

54:12

but the blood of my ancestors

54:16

made the money that keeps the stock exchange rolling today.

54:18

This is my country,

54:24

and when American decided that it

54:26

wanted to break free from Great Britain,

54:29

represented by a man named Chris Pizadeks,

54:32

there were countless thousands of Africans

54:35

who died to make this the United States of America

54:39

rather than the Confederated Colonies of Great Britain.

54:43

This is my country.

54:46

And when the nation was divided,

54:49

we marched not only with the north,

54:52

but there were some of us with the south,

54:55

fighting in order to try to create a balance,

54:57

and those in the north made this nation whole

55:00

and, thank God for Denzel and Morgan Freeman

55:04

on the screen and glory because nobody

55:06

maybe would've known the story

55:09

of how we shed our blood to save America.

55:12

Then in World War One

55:20

there was a group called the 369th infantry division

55:23

hup, two, three, four,

55:27

and they went over to Germany and France to fight.

55:29

I took my son to the museum

55:34

that's in the place in the armory in New York.

55:37

And he looked up and he saw this sign that said

55:41

these are the Hell Fighters.

55:44

So, being my son, he said Daddy,

55:47

why did they call them the Hell Fighters?

55:49

Chaplin, you'll forgive me,

55:51

but I had to tell him the truth

55:52

because they fought like hell.

55:53

And I wanted to make sure that you understood that

55:56

this 369th infantry division

56:03

quipped the Germans on every turn,

56:07

and they also had a band with them,

56:09

it was led by a man named Jim Europe,

56:11

he directed this band,

56:13

and they had a drum major,

56:15

his name was Bill Bojangles Robinson,

56:17

I want you to know this.

56:19

And so hard did they fight that after a while,

56:22

when the Germans heard their band play,

56:26

they put down their guns and ran

56:28

and said uh oh, here come the Hell Fighters.

56:30

My country, and when the Japanese

56:34

decided that they were gonna bomb Pearl Harbor,

56:37

a little black man got up on an anti aircraft gun

56:40

and shot down plane after plane of the Japanese,

56:43

his name was Dorie Miller.

56:46

When we marched off to Vietnam,

56:49

I was 10 percent here, but 22 percent on the front line,

56:51

this is my country.

56:55

I worked for it, I died for it,

56:59

I cared for it,

57:03

and anybody who tries to take it from me

57:05

has made a terrible mistake

57:08

because, you see, I want you to know

57:10

that I can sing perhaps better

57:16

than any other patriot,

57:19

this is my country, land that I love,

57:20

this is my country, sent from above,

57:24

and I pledge thee my allegiance,

57:27

America the bold,

57:29

for this is my country to have and to hold.

57:30

Your greatest patriots cannot sing like I can,

57:33

O beautiful for patriots dreams

57:37

that sees beyond the years

57:40

thine alabaster city's gleam undimmed by human tears,

57:42

America, America, God, mend thine every flaw

57:46

and confirm thy soul in self control

57:49

thy liberty and law.

57:53

I like to do that, you see,

57:56

because I know that there's some looking up

57:57

at my black face and saying

57:59

who do you think you are?

58:00

I'm an American just like you,

58:02

and I've earned every bit of it,

58:05

and I'm proud of it.

58:08

So therefore, when I go to the next portion of my speech,

58:10

I don't worry about what I have to say,

58:15

because I know that in the spirit

58:19

of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.,

58:21

I have every right to be as critical of America

58:23

as the next person.

58:27

And as I work in the bowels of the urban north

58:29

and I see the dismay on the faces of men and women

58:32

as I watch as the number of homeless

58:37

continues to increase,

58:39

and as people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs

58:41

and sick with AIDS have no place to go,

58:45

as I watch as children who need daycare

58:49

are left alone so that their mothers can go out

58:53

and earn a few nickels,

58:56

and as I watch as the school system in New York

58:58

begins to deteriorate,

59:00

then I see hundreds of millions of billions of dollars

59:03

being taken out of this country

59:07

and sent overseas to fight a war

59:09

against a group of people who have never said anything ugly,

59:13

to me,

59:20

then I've got a real problem with America.

59:23

Martin Luther King Jr. was dead one year to the date

59:29

after he made a similar statement

59:31

from a church that looked as beautiful as this one

59:33

in New York, the Riverside Church,

59:36

April fourth, 1967.

59:37

And he said that the money that we were wasting in Vietnam

59:40

could be rebuilding lives right here in America,

59:43

and as I speak, I speak as a black man from New York,

59:47

but in the hills of North Carolina,

59:50

in the bowels of Georgia,

59:51

in the backwoods of Tennessee and Virginia,

59:53

not only blacks, but poor whites suffer from no healthcare.

59:55

Their children need to be nestled in daycare centers

1:00:00

to allow their parents to work.

1:00:04

Homelessness runs rampant not only in the black community,

1:00:07

but in all communities of this nation.

1:00:11

And as we look at the resources being taken

1:00:14

from here to protect countries

1:00:16

that don't even have their young men and women

1:00:19

on the front line, what are we to think?

1:00:23

I don't like to speak this way about my nation,

1:00:32

and my heart goes out

1:00:36

for those young men and women on the front lines,

1:00:36

black and white,

1:00:39

because they're children,

1:00:41

and many of them are just as frightened as they can be.

1:00:42

They don't understand why they're there,

1:00:45

someone said you're going to fight to save the world

1:00:47

from communism and to make the world safe for democracy,

1:00:51

and everybody here at Duke University at least

1:00:54

knows that Kuwait was anything other than a democracy.

1:00:57

And also, as we go forward to march,

1:01:01

we realize that we only get a small portion of our oil

1:01:04

from that part of the land,

1:01:07

and then we see that Saddam Hussein,

1:01:09

as crazy as he is, and he is an absolute nut,

1:01:12

is saying that he's got to tie

1:01:16

the Palestinian question to the solution for this war.

1:01:20

And I step back and I say oh my God,

1:01:24

what are we doing?

1:01:28

In the streets of New York,

1:01:30

I hear the chant no justice, no peace.

1:01:31

From South Africa, I hear the chant

1:01:34

no justice, no peace.

1:01:36

And from the Palestinians I hear the chant

1:01:38

no justice, no peace.

1:01:40

And I know what would count for peace in America,

1:01:43

and I know what would count for peace in South Africa,

1:01:46

but it is beyond me to figure out

1:01:50

what is going to count for peace

1:01:52

between the sons of Abraham, it's not our conflict,

1:01:54

bring our boys and girls home.

1:01:58

And as we sit back and wave the flag,

1:02:05

who's gonna pay for it?

1:02:10

Who's gonna pick up the bill?

1:02:14

Billy Graham can pray with the president all he wants,

1:02:17

but when the man puts the check on the table

1:02:20

it's coming out of your pocket,

1:02:23

and my pocket.

1:02:25

And something tells me that as much as I love this nation,

1:02:27

we've got to cure our waring madness

1:02:32

or else we will find ourselves at home

1:02:37

at each others' throats,

1:02:41

and we will become an easy prey

1:02:43

for anyone who wants to sweep in.

1:02:45

Somebody said well,

1:02:53

y'all went up and got one of them liberals from New York.

1:02:55

And I don't see anything wrong with liberalism,

1:03:00

I told you, liberalism was the thing that made us

1:03:03

the United States of America

1:03:05

and not the Confederated Colonies of Great Britain.

1:03:07

Liberalism gave us freedom of speech,

1:03:09

freedom of religion, freedom of assembly.

1:03:11

Liberalism is what held the Union together

1:03:14

when it was about to split.

1:03:16

Liberalism is what gives you social security

1:03:17

and all those good things that you hope will be there

1:03:19

when you get old enough to enjoy them.

1:03:22

But I don't want you to count my speech

1:03:26

in just some kind of neoliberalism,

1:03:28

I think those titles and terms are altogether wrong,

1:03:30

just say that what's in this preacher's heart

1:03:34

and coming out of his mouth

1:03:37

is an appeal for sanity and love.

1:03:38

And that if, in the spirit of King,

1:03:43

you practice an eye for an eye

1:03:47

and a tooth for a tooth,

1:03:51

then all you will be is blind and toothless.

1:03:53

And still have the same problems

1:04:00

facing you.

1:04:04

So, I don't want people to say that

1:04:07

this man came down with an anti American speech,

1:04:09

for this is my country.

1:04:13

My country tis of thee sweet land of liberty,

1:04:15

of thee I sing.

1:04:18

Land, guess what? Where my fathers died.

1:04:20

Land maybe of the Pilgrim's pride,

1:04:23

but from every mountainside I do want freedom to ring.

1:04:25

And I want it to ring not for

1:04:29

just this lone little black boy standing up here,

1:04:30

I want it to ring for everybody,

1:04:33

the poor white,

1:04:35

the red man, the immigrant,

1:04:37

the so-called Negro,

1:04:40

I want all of us to recognize that America

1:04:42

can be America,

1:04:46

but it can't be as long as the best of us

1:04:49

are somewhere else fighting a war

1:04:53

that most of us don't understand.

1:04:56

And those on the rich, on the top,

1:04:59

keep getting richer,

1:05:02

and those on the bottom keep getting poorer,

1:05:04

and I'll bet you

1:05:08

that most of you out there in that audience are poor,

1:05:13

or you may not be as poor as the dirt farmer,

1:05:17

but you let a mean wave of depression hit and most of us,

1:05:22

even if we got a couple of hundred thousand

1:05:27

in the bank, will be wiped out.

1:05:29

And you know what keeps us apart?

1:05:32

The cruel hoax of race.

1:05:35

I don't care how poor I am,

1:05:37

I'm better than that colored man over there.

1:05:40

And I was being kind.

1:05:42

And I don't care what I'm going through,

1:05:46

you ain't gonna get me til your night with no white man.

1:05:48

We don't have anything in common.

1:05:53

Martin King was the architect that taught us

1:05:55

about each other and caused us to rise above racism

1:05:58

and put our arms around us and brought us together

1:06:01

so that we could effectively fight

1:06:04

spiritual wickedness in high places.

1:06:08

And whenever you see a prophet

1:06:12

point to the real source of evil,

1:06:14

John got his head cut off.

1:06:17

Jesus got nailed to a tree.

1:06:20

And Martin Luther King Jr. was shot down

1:06:23

on a Memphis balcony.

1:06:27

O beloved, when will we realize

1:06:30

that we've got to hold each others' hands

1:06:34

and unite for the common dignity

1:06:38

of all humankind?

1:06:40

And this one last point,

1:06:44

Martin King Jr. was a man who had a dream about America,

1:06:48

but that was not his total dream.

1:06:53

And if you were to understand him,

1:06:56

you must know that what he wanted most of all

1:06:58

was a place where the lion

1:07:03

and the lamb would lie down together.

1:07:06

Where men and women would beat their swords

1:07:09

into plow shares and their spears into pruning hooks

1:07:11

and study war no more.

1:07:14

If you were to understand Martin Luther King Jr.,

1:07:16

he really wanted the place where

1:07:19

every valley would be exalted

1:07:21

and every mountain and hill brought low,

1:07:23

where the leaves on the trees would be good

1:07:26

for the healing of the nations,

1:07:28

where the river flows pure as crystal.

1:07:30

If you were to understand Martin Luther King Jr.,

1:07:33

he could never be satisfied with the mere

1:07:35

manmade or womanmade piece of earth,

1:07:39

he was looking toward the glories of heaven

1:07:41

where he expected all of those who loved justice and mercy

1:07:47

and righteousness to be.

1:07:51

And because he had that vision,

1:07:53

nothing on this earth would ever satisfy him,

1:07:56

so I leave you with this:

1:07:59

yes, I love America,

1:08:00

and yes, I wanna see it become what it can be

1:08:01

for all of us,

1:08:04

but my hope is tied up

1:08:06

in a realm beyond this place.

1:08:09

It's a land flowing with milk and honey.

1:08:13

Some of my more militant brothers say

1:08:16

but you speak like a fool,

1:08:18

you got your eyes in the sky,

1:08:20

but my prize is there,

1:08:22

and as long as my hope is built

1:08:24

on the foundation that there is a place better than this,

1:08:27

I'm not afraid of anything down here.

1:08:30

So, I'll give my life for freedom and justice,

1:08:35

whether it's for African-Americans in America,

1:08:40

black South Africans in South Africa,

1:08:42

or Palestinians in Palestine,

1:08:45

I will give my life for those

1:08:47

who have been crushed to the earth

1:08:49

because I know

1:08:51

that there is a place

1:08:53

where pleasure reigns.

1:08:56

Don't think this is it.

1:08:59

When the body bags come home,

1:09:02

when money is short,

1:09:05

when we realize who's gonna pay this bill,

1:09:08

you haven't seen anything yet.

1:09:12

The ugliness is going to overflow into the streets,

1:09:16

and the repression coming from the top

1:09:20

is going to be more cruel and brutal.

1:09:22

Blacks and whites are going to face off against each other,

1:09:26

and there's going to be a terrible confrontation

1:09:31

in the streets of America.

1:09:34

Those of us who would fight for equality and justice

1:09:36

will be a small number,

1:09:40

so I leave you with the words of the hymn

1:09:43

of the great Methodist preacher,

1:09:45

harder yet may be this fight,

1:09:48

and right may often yield to might,

1:09:52

and wickedness a while may reign,

1:09:56

and Satan's cause may seem to gain,

1:10:00

but never forget there is a God

1:10:04

who rules above

1:10:08

with a hand of mercy and a heart of love.

1:10:11

And if I'm right,

1:10:16

I think Thomas Jefferson was right,

1:10:18

he might've had some slaves,

1:10:20

but I think what he put on paper was right.

1:10:21

I think that Lyndon Baines Johnson

1:10:24

and John F. Kennedy were right,

1:10:27

I think that Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was right.

1:10:31

I think that Martin Luther King Jr. was right,

1:10:34

I think that my momma and daddy are right,

1:10:36

and they never taught me to hate anybody.

1:10:38

And if I'm right,

1:10:41

I believe that God will help me

1:10:42

to fight my battles.

1:10:45

And we,

1:10:49

black and white,

1:10:51

rich and poor,

1:10:53

male and female,

1:10:55

Christian and Jew,

1:10:57

we will be free

1:11:00

someday.

1:11:05

(applause)

1:11:08

-

Let's bow our heads and our hearts together in prayer.

1:11:41

Father, we do long for that day

1:11:46

when every knee shall bow before you,

1:11:50

where men from every nation, every tongue, every people,

1:11:52

black and white,

1:11:56

where every country across the globe

1:11:58

will recognize you, will love and adore you,

1:12:00

and spend every day,

1:12:04

every year for eternity

1:12:07

enjoying your great presence together.

1:12:10

But this is today, Lord,

1:12:13

and we see division,

1:12:16

we see it 11 o'clock every Sunday morning,

1:12:18

your people divided, black and white,

1:12:21

and Lord, our hearts weep

1:12:25

because we see in our own lives, our lives divided,

1:12:28

spent with those like us,

1:12:31

with those whom we are most comfortable with,

1:12:34

Lord, fearing, lacking the love,

1:12:37

and lacking the drive

1:12:41

to take the initiative to work to reach out

1:12:43

to those whom you love,

1:12:45

whom you've called us to love.

1:12:48

God, move in our own hearts to root out

1:12:52

bigotry, to root out hatred,

1:12:55

to root out pride,

1:12:59

and fill us with your love

1:13:01

for the man next door, for the woman on the street,

1:13:04

for the friend beside us in a classroom,

1:13:08

for the professor ahead of us,

1:13:11

or toward those around.

1:13:15

Or where there are walls, personally tear them down,

1:13:16

and bring repentance among your people, black and white,

1:13:20

that we might be one on one, unify with one another.

1:13:24

Father, where there is a wall between structures,

1:13:30

between groups of peoples, tear it down.

1:13:34

God, rise up great leaders with great visions

1:13:38

who are unafraid to stand firm in your cause,

1:13:42

who will take any name, any suffering, any cost,

1:13:46

that we might be one people,

1:13:52

black and white together in this nation,

1:13:54

that we might worship you in unity,

1:13:57

that we might serve and walk side by side,

1:14:00

that we might sacrifice for one another,

1:14:02

not holding onto that which is ours

1:14:05

but realizing that all that we have is yours.

1:14:06

God, tear down the structures within our nation

1:14:10

that do make the rich richer,

1:14:15

that make the poor poorer,

1:14:17

that leave the rest of us able to continue

1:14:19

as if nothing was wrong,

1:14:22

as if the fight is not ours,

1:14:24

that it is ours because it burns on your heart,

1:14:25

and let it burn in our own.

1:14:30

Lord, the time is over now

1:14:33

for men and women to hate one another,

1:14:36

and now is the time for your love.

1:14:39

Father, the time is over now

1:14:42

for whites to hold onto that which is theirs,

1:14:44

and to realize that your great bounty,

1:14:48

given to this nation,

1:14:52

is for all the people in the city, in the poorest sections,

1:14:53

in the mountains, where they have nothing.

1:14:57

Lord, raise up a generation of leaders on this campus

1:15:02

with new dreams,

1:15:06

with new visions,

1:15:07

and Lord, empower them with every bit of the resources

1:15:10

of your great kingdom to make it happen in our day.

1:15:14

That black children and white children

1:15:19

can play together in schools that are strong,

1:15:21

Lord, in this own very city we see great division,

1:15:26

in our own community on campus we see great division,

1:15:31

and how we long for a day when you will bring us together,

1:15:35

and not just out of programs or out of a particular week,

1:15:38

but Lord, the unity would be built on love and respect

1:15:45

for one dignity recognizing that every man and woman here

1:15:47

is made in your image.

1:15:52

Stir in us, Lord, hearts that yearn for the things

1:15:55

that are on your heart.

1:15:58

In Christ's name, amen.

1:16:01

I wanna remind you to join us for a reception

1:16:04

in the alumni room of the Divinity School

1:16:07

immediately following the service.

1:16:10

(organ music)

1:16:16

(choir singing)

1:16:56

(organ music)

1:20:48

Calvin O. Butts III - Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Service (undated)

Transcript

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