Clarion Defender_1968-04 Special Memorial Edition

· CLA~ION DEFENDeR ...................... "Some of you have knives and I ask you to put them up. Some of you have arms and I ask you to put them up. Get the weapons of nonviolence, the breast~late of righteousness, the armor of truth and just keep marching." -- 1964. IN MEMORIAM "Now, I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream, It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: •we hold these truths to be self– evidento that all men are created equal.' - Dr. Martin Luther King OREGON MUTUAL SAVINGS BANK MAIN OFFICE : Broadway and Oak • Portland EUGENE OFFICE: 12th and Oak MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION "THE MARTIN LUTHER KING WE REMEMBER" By: Bob Hughes Dr. Martin Luther King was born 39 years ago in Atlanta, Ga. He was the son of a Baptist Minister, Martin Luther King, Sr. They were co– pastors of The Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta in the neighborhood where he grew up. At the age of 15, Dr. King, then an 11th grader, was promoted to Morehouse College because of his ability and .aptness. Morehouse is an all– male Negro college in Atlanta, some four miles away from the now-famed Auburn Avenue. Martin Luther King's first claim to national acclaim was the now historic Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, when Mrs. Rosa Parks, a militant, but a tired and frustrated Negro, refused to be ordered into the rear of a Montgomery, Alabama city bus. This was Dr. King's first break-through in his 13 years of dedication in the civil rights movement working for the betterment and under– standing for not only Negroes in particular but all mankind through peaceful and diplomatic channels. Martin Luther King began to indulge in even greater and far more risky endeavors as time passed. In the year 1963, King decided upon taking our needs and demands to our nation's capitol in Washington for more jobs and housing, which incidentally attracted some 250,000 followers. The aggressive and highly . intellectual peace-maker had a dream, a dream that lives with you. King's dream is our will. His goal in lif( was the greatest sacrifice in modern history. Dr. King was one of the world's most respected and beloved black men. He became the first Negro in history to ever win the Nobel Prize for doing civil rights work. The Nobel Prize is usually given to great scientists in the field of chemistry. On Thursday, April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorrain Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, by an unknown assassin's bullet. This was an American tragedy. This, in my opinion, was an act of violence and racial unrest that has plague~ this nation for over a century simply because this country has flatly refused to uphold and protect the rights of America's minority. Every white official in not only Memphis, but throughout America are to be held responsible for the cruel and untimely death of Dr. King, a brilliant and courageous philosopher of non– violence. The death of Dr. King was a tragic and total loss to all black people, whether or not they were for or whether against his philosophy and methods of non-violence. Dr. King worked directly with the small Negro, which was fascinating. He shared his dream, his wealth, and, most important, his devotion, to aid his black brothers and sisters from all walks of life. "The Martin Luther King We Remember" had a dream. The King we remember also went to "the mountaintop," and looked into "The promised land." For once in history, we as determined · citizens, both black and white, must stand to– gether and live together as decent human beings working for the goals that both the late President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King strived so hard for and that's none other than freedom and equal justic~s for every American. Surely in due time Dr. King's assassin will be captured and brought to justice and surely this will be a lesson for all sick and fever– minded racists in our torn and embattled society.