The lesson to learn is change through nonviolence

Unfortunately I never met the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but fortunately, I did meet Uncle M. L. (short for Martin Luther), the name he was referred to by his parents, siblings, family and friends as he was growing up to become Dr King. During his lifetime, I was too young to understand or be aware of the societal injustices that were surrounding me, and certainly too young to comprehend his great dream for America, or his nonviolent philosophy as an instruction manual on how to live one’s life.

As I grew to comprehend his philosophy and meet Dr King, I realized that one of the true regrets that I have in life is that I was not old enough for us to have worked together, as we played together. As the newly elected President/CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference [SCLC], the most successful human rights organization in American history, I now follow in his footsteps as part of the second generation of King leadership

But I can only imagine how the multitude of citizens Black and white, male/female, and the old and the young— whose names are not held up in the bright lights, who enabled him to be the great Dr. King — must feel having been a part of a revolution that not only changed our country but the world. There is a sense of pride when I think about the fact that a guy I share DNA with, a guy who precedes me by only one generation and a guy I actually knew will have a monument built in his honor in the A-list section on the mall in the nation’s capitol.

I know my fellow African Americans have a sense of pride knowing that a person that looks like them will have a place alongside some of our greatest presidents. But for me, the proudest thing (and I think it would be the proudest thing for Uncle M.L.) is the long-term impact this will have on American society. In the immediate term, the focus will probably center on the fact that this is the first time a monument will be built to honor an African American. In the long term the true point of pride for me is that this will be the first monument given for PEACE and NONVIOLENCE on the mall.

This in no way is a criticism or negative reflection on the other existing monuments; they all deserve to be there, just like the monument to Uncle M.L. But the monument to Uncle M.L. will provide future generations an example of a citizen leader who led, fought and won a war without ever having fired a shot. Future generations will see an army of Black and white, male/female, and old and young who met the violence of attack dogs, water hoses, bombings, gunfire and lynchings. With the nonviolence of passive resistance, peace and love for one’s fellow human being, future generations will know it is possible to meet violence with nonviolence and win. They will know that conflicts can be resolved without use of weapons, that rights don’t have to be achieved at the point of a gun.

This monument will be a gathering place for people of all hues, any ethnicity and any religious orientation or no religious orientation. This monument will be both a reminder and an example to people around the world demonstrating how to change the negative aspects of their societies, while preserving the best, and most importantly, preserving life and the infrastructure needed to maintain it.

The National Holiday commemorating Uncle M.L.’s life has evolved from being a day of hero worship of a man, to becoming a day where millions of Americans perform acts of service to others. In fact, it’s the only holiday on the American calendar whose official designation states that is not a day for play but a day of service to others. Because of what Uncle M.L. did as a citizen leader and the principles he fought and stood for, this monument will follow that tradition and become more than a memorial to the man but an inspirational NONVIOLENT path to a more caring, a more peaceful and a more just society.

As one who shares DNA with a guy who I personally consider the greatest leader of the 20th century, it’s not the brick and mortar on the mall that gives me the greatest sense of pride, but the lesson that it conveys: CHANGE THROUGH NONVIOLENCE.

– Isaac Newton Farris, Jr.

This article was originally published in the August 22, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper