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The Immortal Talent of Martin Luther King

January, 2010

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is altogether fitting and proper that we recall Martin Luther King's true legacy today, and that we do so by returning to the words and thoughts presented by Lyndon LaRouche exactly six years ago today, at the Martin Luther King Prayer Breakfast sponsored by the Talladega County (Alabama) Democratic Conference, where he spoke along with Amelia Boynton Robinson.

It is doubly fitting, and necessary, that we do so as a mass strike sweeps this country, which is driving traditional Democrats—in the tradition of FDR and Dr. King—to break with the British-dictated insanity of the Obama administration, an insanity which threatens to destroy not only the Democratic Party, but the United States and indeed the entire planet. A fitting example of this were the keynote remarks delivered today by Harvard professor Cornel West at the King memorial at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where he warned President Obama to beware the "brainy and smart economists" around him who are tied to the "Wall Street oligarchs."

Today, that mass strike is sweeping the state of Massachusetts in particular, where Obama's entire Nazi health policy could well go up in smoke in today's Senate election. The LaRouche Youth Movement and the Rachel Brown for Congress campaign are in the middle of the ferment, organizing and educating the population to destroy Obama's Nazi health plan, and to replace it with the LaRouche Plan for world economic recovery, including the Four Powers alliance which LaRouche has personally made an emerging reality.


Lyndon LaRouche addressing prayer breakfast on “The Immortal Talent of Martin Luther King” in Talladega, Alabama, January 2004.

In his remarks six years ago today in Alabama—the full transcript of which is available here ( http://www.schillerinstitute.org/lar_related/2004/jan-march/lar_mlk_speech.html )  and in DVD format—LaRouche addressed the crisis facing the nation and the world, and the quality of leadership needed to solve it:

"We have two problems, I think, which should be the basis for reflecting on Martin's life, today. One, we have a national crisis. Now, I'm not going to mince words; and I'm not going to do any political hacking. But the facts have to be told. This economy is collapsing! The situation, relatively speaking, in terms of basic economic infrastructure, of the United States today, is worse than in 1933, when Roosevelt came into the White House, in March...

"And look at the world. The world faces a great crisis. And the United States faces a great crisis, in dealing with the world. The largest concentrations of population of the world are China, for example, at one point, 1.3 billion or more; India over 1 billion; then you have Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the countries of Southeast Asia: This is the greatest concentration of population on this planet. It's an emerging part of the world. The question is, what's the relationship of the United States to these people of Asia, who represent, by and large, different cultural backgrounds, than those of us in the United States or in Western Europe?...

"We face the same problem, in principle, that Martin faced, and faced successfully. And I would propose, that in the lesson of Martin Luther King, and his life, there is something we can learn today, which brings him back to life, as if he were standing here, alive, today. There's something special about his life, his development, which should be captured today, by us, not only in addressing the problems of our nation, which are becoming terrible; but the problems of our relationship with the world as a whole...

"Because we're all mortal. And to arouse in us the passions, while we're alive, which will impel us to do good, we have to have a sense that our life, and the consuming of our life—the spending of our talent, is going to mean something for coming generations. The best people look for things—like Moses—that are going to happen, when he will no longer be around to enjoy them. It's this sense of immortality. It's why parents, in the best degree, sacrifice for their children. It's why communities sacrifice for education, for their children, for opportunities for their children. You go through the pangs of suffering and shortage, but you have the sense that you're going someplace, that your life is going to mean something. That you can die with a smile on your face: You've conquered death. You've spent your talent wisely, why life will mean something better for generations to come.

"That was the principle! That principle inspired the man who became King Henry VII of England, to do the same thing against the evil Richard III, and establish England, at that time, as the second modern nation-state.

"In a sense, that's what Martin was doing, the same kind of process...


Amelia Boynton Robinson addresses high school students in Stockholm, Sweden at the Global School, October 3, 2007

"Martin obviously had that. Martin was one of the rare people, in his time, who had a deep sense of what it is to be a human being. Who had a deep sense of the lesson of the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ. He was able to bring to politics—which he didn't go into to get in as politics, as such—he was a natural leader. The natural leader is one, who comes not from the political process as such, but from the people. Martin never achieved political office. Yet, he was probably as important a figure of the United States as any modern President. He achieved that. His authority, as a leader, came from the people. He fought against the people, and with the people, to free them. He was a leader, in a true sense. His power as a political force, in the nation and in the world, came from his relationship to the people...

Bridge Across Jordan
Autobiography of Amelia Boynton Robinson

"If you want to be a true politician, you must be committed to the general welfare. You must be committed to mankind. And to be committed to mankind, is to look at the person who's in the worst condition, in general—and uplift them! Then, you really have proven, that you care about the general welfare. If you don't go to those people, you're not with the general welfare. If you don't have your roots in a fight for the general welfare, you're not capable of leading our nation, which is a nation Constitutionally committed to the general welfare.

"Martin had that....

"And, as I say, of all the images of recent political leaders of the United States, Martin, both as a national leader, and as a world leader—which he also was, in terms of his influence—is the best example of the kind of personality who we must have, and must develop, to get us out of the horrible, frightening mess that threatens us today."

Related pages:

Amelia Boynton Robinson

Amelia B. Robinson at Talladega, Alabama, 2004

Dialogues with Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.

What Leibniz Intended by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.

The Question Before Us by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.

Education, Science & Poetry

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