MLK Visits After 48 Years
The following was written by Albert Vorspan, member at Hevreh, senior vice-president emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism, and former director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. It was shared at our community-wide interfaith celebration on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
I dreamed I saw Martin Luther King last night
ALIVE AS HE COULD BE
Wait, Dr. King, YOU DIED 48 YEARS AGO
I never died, said he
BUT, doctor, you must see
This is a bad time for your memory
IF PERCHANCE YOUR SPIRIT MIGHT HEARTEN
You can call me simply Martin
LOOK, I do not live from day to day, or even year to year
But, Martin, please, you were killed 48 year ago
I never died, said he
The arc of justice goes to and fro,
It sometimes wobbles, seems to slow
But the arc of history still trends
Toward peace and justice in the end
But, Martin, why you still care is a mystery
When all you stood for may soon be history
Oh, no, my friend, don’t be a fool
Justice is as old as the Golden Rule
The prophets thundered, same as I
Jesus, Isaiah, Ghandi, Lincoln
Their voices will never die
The dream still lives, just hear the songs
The dream still lives, we can right the wrongs
OH, Martin you could always make a speech
Your I HAVE A DREAM IS STILL the classic that we teach
Now listen, I did not come to hear me praised unto the skies
I CAME TO SHOUT ARISE, MY FRIENDS, AND ORGANIZE
There was another speech that day from Rabbi Printz
Who had fled HITLER Germany and fought for justice ever since
His words were few but made good sense
Even worse than bigotry is the sin of silence
Dead or alive, tired or retired,
WE WILL NOT SILENTLY ABIDE
The death of rights for which we died
No offense, Martin, we are glad you are here, but why return?
WHO CARES WHAT HAPPENED WAY BACK THEN
The challenges of today are beyond your ken
Listen to me and listen well, the past is prologue
And those who ignore it are bound to repeat it
Blind passengers on a ship in the fog
The past is our teacher, ignore at your loss
In truth, you would never have heard my speech
If there had not been the thundering march of a thousand feet
And millions of Americans putting on the heat
Demanding justice and equal rights
All faiths and colors all day and night
Young folks, full of life but not afraid to die
They filled our jails, females and males
And little girls in Birmingham, never heard the nation wail
As Bull Connor, with dogs and hose in hand
Attacked Americans who took a stand
Martin, please don’t be modest, don’t equivocate
Without leaders like you we are not so great
Always too little and too late
And, Martin, I don’t mean to disrespect
But leaders like you are Heaven sent
If, as you say, the arc of life wobbles but trends to the good
It needs champions like you and not just
Us ordinary folk in the neighborhood
Look, Martin, I DO NOT MEAN ANY DISRESPECT
But we are in a very different time, I do suspect
A political earthquake exploded here
Those sacred rights may disappear
STOP RIGHT THERE AND NOT SO FAST
You can stop these prejudices from being passed
A vast distance separates play-acting and enacting
Remember the Tea Party, mostly nutty, kept the Congress from duly cting
SO HERE IS MY MESSAGE, LOUD AND CLEAR FOR YOU, YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS NEAR
Defend the defenseless, welcome the stranger
DRAW STRENGTH FROM THE INDIANS, South Dakota Sioux
They stopped an environmental evil and so could you
Speak out when black kids are killed because they are black
Or sobbing families are deported
AND REFUGEE FAMILIES ARE COLDLY THWARTED
Forget the environment we cant afford it
Enough, Martin, you have had your say
Leave something for another day…
Okay, okay, I CAN TAKE A HINT, TWO THINGS I WILL SAY BEFORE I GO
The Bible tells us there is no cure
It is commanded : THERE SHALL BE NO POOR
And there it is, short and sweet
The goal a government should meet
Thank you, Martin, it must be said
You are quite well read for a guy so DEAD
Oh, WAIT, WAIT, JUST ONE THING MORE
prophets taught us long before the iPod
Do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.
See you next year
Albert Vorspan is the senior vice-president emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism and former director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. He was integral in the establishment of the Religious Action Center in Washington, DC. He is the author of several books on Judaism and social justice, as well as a numbe rof books of Jewish humor published by Doubleday. He has written for the op-ed page of the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, as well as Time, Moment, Reform Judaism, and many other periodicals. During World War II, he served in the Navy as a gunnery officer on a destroyer escort in the Pacific. In 1984, he received the Allard Lowenstein Memorial Award of the American Jewish Congress; in 1987, he was honored with the Maurice N. Eisendrath Bearer of Light Award by the Reform synagogue movement.