The life and death of a 'king'

At the time of King's death, one of the most eloquent testimonies to his influence was given by close friend and entertainer, Harry Belafonte, in conjunction with lawyer Stanley Levison:

Martin Luther King was not a dreamer although he had a dream......under his leadership millions of black Americans emerged from spiritual imprisonment, from fear, from apathy and took to the streets to proclaim their freedom...

Belafonte went on to recall what Martin had said in a sermon only two months before his assassination, "He wrote his own obituary to define himself in the simple terms his heart comprehended, 'Tell them I tried to feed the hungry. Tell them I tried to clothe the naked. Tell them I tried to help somebody'. Then Belafonte concludes, "And that is all he ever did. That is why... he is matchless, that is why, though stilled by death, he lives."

Those who have written biographies of Martin Luther King readily concede that his was a flawed character. Perhaps, barely in his mid-years, King needed to take time to restore his inner life, though the burden he carried seemingly denied him that release. There is not only the charge of plagiarism in his doctoral thesis. But also he was unfaithful in his marriage many times. In this he was not the exception among the gallery of public figures who have dared to seek social and political change. Remembering he was a Christian clergyman, we could debate whether private immorality detracted from his public witness and political contribution – but we will not. Certainly his wife knew of some of his sexual liaisons. However, she was still able to write:

...there was never a moment when we were not united in our love and dedication, never a moment when I wanted to be anything other than the wife of Martin Luther King.

The anniversary of his death in 2018 coincides with Easter, as it did that fateful day in Memphis. The Easter story is Crucifixion followed by Resurrection. The one who was closest to him, Coretta, made this connection in her grief. She wrote:

As the clouds of despair begin to disperse, you realise there is hope, and life, and light, and truth. There is goodness in the Universe. That is what Martin saw as the meaning of Easter.

He knew also that bracketed within the vision is the need to act despite the cost. Perhaps the abiding lesson of these last 50 years for activist dreamers and their more pragmatic colleagues is that THE STRUGGLE NEVER ENDS. As Martin famously declared, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".