Once conform, once do what other people do because they do it, and a lethargy steals over all the finer nerves and faculties of the soul. She becomes all outer show and inward emptiness; dull, callous, and indifferent.
Virginia Woolf
So the first question that the priest asked, the first question that the Levite asked, was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the Good Samaritan came by, and he reversed the question. “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
Martin Luther King, Mountaintop Speech
The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.
Elie Wiesel
The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.
Albert Einstein
I recently had occasion to listen once more to the speech delivered by Dr Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee on April 3rd, 1968, the evening before his assassination at the Lorraine Motel. He gave this (I’ve been to the Mountaintop) speech, to an assembly which had convened at the Mason Temple in support of the sanitation workers of Memphis, who had been on strike for better pay and conditions since February 12 of that year.
The Memphis sanitation workers laboured under stressful, toxic, and dangerous conditions for wages which did not even match minimum welfare standards. The strike had been sparked by the deaths, while on duty, of two sanitation workers, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, on February 1, 1968.
While working that day, the pair sought refuge from a rainstorm in the compactor area of their garbage truck. The two African American men were prevented from seeking shelter from the rain inside a building due to segregation laws. The compactor accidentally activated, resulting in their fatal injuries. Their deaths served as a catalyst for more than 1,300 African American men from the Memphis Department of Public Works to go on strike. Their demands included recognition of their dignity, safety clothing and equipment, and improved pay conditions, among other issues.
In his speech, Martin Luther King first begins to give thanks for the opportunity to be alive during these times, despite or perhaps precisely because they presented such challenges to humankind.
Towards the beginning of his talk, he says: Now that’s a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around. That’s a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding.
The world is all messed up. How true this statement rings almost sixty years later! Wars continue, famine persists. The divide between the rich and poor grows wider by the day, addiction and other mental health afflictions ravage our families and communities, all against the backdrop of a climate crisis which presents an immediate existential threat to humanity.
Dr King goes on to echo the cry he hears throughout his community, far and wide: We want to be free!
He then continues: Another reason that I’m happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we are going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn’t force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it’s nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today.
Like the late-stage alcoholic or any addict nearing the end of her progressive, fatal disease, we are collectively at that point commonly referred to as `rock bottom´. We are faced with the choice of transformation or nonexistence, and the means of transformation, as Dr King had learned from a line of prophets stretching back through Mohandas Gandhi and Tolstoy, all the way back to Jesus Christ and before, was that the transformation must be one brought about by nonviolent means.
The gift and opportunity of `rock bottom´ is as available to us today as it was in Dr King’s times, perhaps even more palpably. A major change since 1968 has been the digital revolution which has, if anything, buttressed the trend towards a global consumer society and accelerated the shift towards social fragmentation and the alienation of the individual, a world in which social fabric is being eclipsed by social media.
Dr King therefore appeals to unity, as in the following passage: Now, what does all of this mean in this great period of history? It means that we’ve got to stay together. We’ve got to stay together and maintain unity. You know, whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favourite formula for doing it. What was that? He kept the slaves fighting among themselves. But whenever the slaves get together, something happens in Pharaoh’s court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. When the slaves get together, that’s the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity.
Today, we can see disunity and social animosity, almost everywhere we look. Only awareness and empathy will save us from being sucked into this vortex, whereupon all would be lost.
Thankfully, there are some notable exceptions to the general fragmentation of society such as the community of Alcoholics Anonymous and related Twelve Step Fellowships, which practice unity for the purpose of recovery. As the first of the Twelve Traditions of A.A. states: `Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity´.
After listing the successes of the Civil Rights Movement built upon unity, from the Montgomery bus boycott through to Birmingham, Alabama, right up to the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike itself, Dr King then appeals to the economic power of his community as the leverage to compel the transformation of society from one of bondage to justice and peace.
Now the other thing we’ll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal…. We don’t have to argue with anybody. We don’t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don’t need any bricks and bottles. We don’t need any Molotov cocktails. We just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, “God sent us by here to say to you that you’re not treating his children right. And we’ve come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment where God’s children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow, and our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you….. So, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis……
This principle is as valid today as the day on which these words were spoken. As I have written in recent essays about our food being hijacked and spiked with insidious UPF ingredients, the quickest way to bring down the toxic business models of Nestle and other global corporations is simply not to buy their products.
This applies equally to corporations which continue to produce armaments, sustain the practice of child labour, or proliferate fear, hatred, and fake news, to mention but a few important criteria. If even a 5% shift in spending could be brought about, their business models would wobble considerably. The challenge today is that we have now moved to a global stage which requires a global response.
This globalisation also presents opportunities, however. The fact that an essay like this one can be accessed from anywhere in the world (and automatically translated into any local language), once uploaded, is a good example.
Then, citing the parable of the Good Samaritan, Martin Luther King moves on to the central question of values and fear. After elucidating the parable as he understands it, he makes the connection to the challenge at hand, in stating: That’s the question before you tonight. Not, if I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job. Not, if I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor? The question is not, if I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me? The question is, if I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them? That’s the question.
His injunction is to look deep inside to get clarity on our values. Would we like, directly or by proxy, to treat others in any way other than we would like ourselves and our children be treated? And what of our fears? Fear is clearly nothing to be ashamed of. It is an essential human characteristic.
The issue is whether we address our fears and, if so, how? I have had extensive experience in trying to supress and deny my own fears, only to learn that they will ultimately find a way to bubble to the surface and manifest, one way or the other.
There are only two prime drives for all human thinking, feeling, and action. These are love and fear. If we allow our fears to dictate, we will continue the current downward spiral. Only by learning to intercept our fear-fuelled Saboteurs and to shift to the higher frequencies of empathy, exploration, innovation, navigation, and right action can we learn to open our hearts and operate on the fuel of love. This is the core of the Positive Intelligence (PQ) Mental Fitness modality that has emerged in recent years, which I practice on a daily basis, and in which I have recently qualified as a coach. When mentally fit, our actions can draw upon the fuel of love.
A variety of resources now help me identify, claim, accept, process, and transcend my fears as they arise each day. These resources include the Twelve Step Recovery Programme, the PQ Mental Fitness modality, and further elements from ancient spiritual to most recent neuroscientific practices, including many body-based therapy forms which have emerged over recent years. In short, I maintain a daily practice of emotional sobriety to help me retain, and where necessary, regain my balance as we navigate these turbulent times, always following the principle of `progress, not perfection´.
Using the language and context of his times, Martin Luther King concludes his speech by describing his experience in dealing with and transcending his own fears, as follows: 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. 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!
Less than 24 hours later, a single bullet hit Dr King in the head, as he was leaning over the balcony railing in front of Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel, his regular lodging whenever in Memphis. Having been immediately rushed to hospital, the 39-year-old Dr King was declared dead an hour later at 7.05 p.m.
I am indebted to my youngest brother, Eoin, for drawing my attention once more to this speech, which, in my estimation, ranks among the most inspiring of the 20th century. If you have never listened to it, I encourage you to find it online and to invest the 45 minutes to do so. Transcripts can also be found online.
The effect it has on me is inspiring and encouraging; inspiring me to continue in my quest each day to become the best possible version of who I am and encouraging me to continue to do my inner work and reach out to my fellows as we trudge the path of happy destiny, even through what sometimes appear to be the darkest of moments.
