Vigil #7
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
- | As we walk into good with some 400 | 0:05 |
people who accept their support | 0:08 | |
in sympathy with our | 0:11 | |
action taken at Dr Knight's house. | 0:15 | |
I went to that offender's group. | 0:19 | |
A speech delivered by Dr Martin Luther King, | 0:23 | |
in Washington of August 1963. | 0:27 | |
Today | 0:34 | |
as we've expanded | 0:36 | |
our vigil to the main quadrangle, | 0:41 | |
I'd like to take this opportunity to read | 0:48 | |
selected persons of the matter of Dr King's | 0:51 | |
famous work, | 0:56 | |
a document which was written | 1:00 | |
under the most unusual circumstances. | 1:04 | |
Circumstances which I think you should know about. | 1:14 | |
This is the response which Dr King made | 1:19 | |
to a public statement | 1:21 | |
by a fellow clergyman from Alabama. | 1:24 | |
It was composed under somewhat constricting circumstances. | 1:30 | |
It began in the margins of the newspaper | 1:36 | |
in which the statement appeared | 1:38 | |
while Dr King was in jail. | 1:40 | |
The letter was continued on scraps of writing paper | 1:43 | |
supplied by a friendly a negro trustee. | 1:46 | |
And it was concluded on a pad which | 1:50 | |
Dr King's attorneys gave him. | 1:53 | |
After some considerable negotiation with the jailer. | 1:56 | |
Let me share with you these thoughts of Dr King. | 2:02 | |
Dr King says: | 2:08 | |
You may well ask: why direct action? | 2:10 | |
Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? | 2:14 | |
Isn't negotiation a better path? | 2:18 | |
You are quite right in calling for negotiations. | 2:22 | |
Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. | 2:26 | |
Non-violent direct action seeks to create | 2:30 | |
such a crisis in softer saturation | 2:33 | |
that a community which is constantly refused to negotiate | 2:35 | |
is forced to confront the issues. | 2:39 | |
It seeks to dramatize the issue | 2:43 | |
so that it can no longer be ignored. | 2:45 | |
My citing the creation of tension | 2:50 | |
as part of the work of the non-violent resister | 2:51 | |
may sound rather shocking, | 2:54 | |
but I must confess that I | 2:57 | |
am not afraid of the word "tension". | 2:58 | |
I have earnestly opposed violent tension, | 3:01 | |
but there's a type of constructive non-violent tension | 3:04 | |
which is necessary for growth. | 3:07 | |
Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary | 3:11 | |
to create a tension in the mind | 3:13 | |
so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths | 3:15 | |
and half-truths to the unfettered realm | 3:19 | |
of creative analysis and objective appraisal, | 3:22 | |
so must we see the need for non-violent gadflies | 3:26 | |
to create the kind of tension in society | 3:31 | |
that will help men rise from the dark steps of prejudice | 3:33 | |
and racism to the majestic of heights | 3:37 | |
of understanding, and brotherhood. | 3:40 | |
The purpose of our direct action program | 3:44 | |
is to create a situation | 3:47 | |
so that it will inevitably open the door to negotiations. | 3:50 | |
I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiations. | 3:57 | |
Too long has our beloved southland | 4:02 | |
been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue | 4:04 | |
rather than dialogue. | 4:08 | |
One of the basic points in his statement | 4:11 | |
is that the action I and my associates have taken | 4:13 | |
in Birmingham is untimely. | 4:15 | |
Some have asked: why didn't you give | 4:18 | |
the new city administration time to act? | 4:20 | |
The only answer that I can give to this query | 4:23 | |
is that the new Birmingham administration | 4:26 | |
must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one | 4:28 | |
to ensure that it will act. | 4:31 | |
Dr King continues somewhat later: | 4:50 | |
we will each to go to freedom in Birmingham | 4:53 | |
and all over the nation | 4:55 | |
because the goal of America is freedom. | 4:57 | |
Abuse and scorn though may it be, | 5:01 | |
our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. | 5:04 | |
Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. | 5:09 | |
Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words | 5:11 | |
of the Declaration of Independence | 5:15 | |
across the pages of history, we were here. | 5:17 | |
For more than two centuries, our forebears | 5:22 | |
labored in this country without wages. | 5:24 | |
They made cotton tea. | 5:27 | |
They'd built the homes of their masters | 5:29 | |
while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation. | 5:31 | |
And yet, out of a bottomless vitality | 5:35 | |
that continues to thrive and develop, | 5:37 | |
it's the inexpressible cruelties of slavery | 5:40 | |
could not stop us, | 5:43 | |
the opposition we now face will surely fail. | 5:45 | |
We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage | 5:50 | |
of our nation and the eternal role of God | 5:53 | |
are embodied in our echoing demands. | 5:56 | |
- | I'd like to take this opportunity | 6:07 |
to kind of fill you in on | 6:09 | |
what's gone on in the past 40 hours, | 6:11 | |
43 hours to be exact, almost. | 6:14 | |
We left alumni lounge over there about 43 hours ago, | 6:16 | |
I guess we were about 400, 500 strong, | 6:20 | |
I forget how many at this time. | 6:22 | |
We ride with Dr Knight and | 6:25 | |
three spokesmen went inside and | 6:27 | |
sat down and started talking to Dr Knight about | 6:33 | |
half an hour after we got there. | 6:36 | |
We had the four requests I'm sure | 6:38 | |
most of you have seen, | 6:42 | |
someone I know around Kansas is | 6:44 | |
we've been trying to form while we spend now | 6:45 | |
in our purposes in being there, | 6:48 | |
and I'd like to just briefly reiterate | 6:49 | |
the requests that we were discussing | 6:51 | |
with you at the time. | 6:53 | |
First of all, when he signed his statement, | 6:54 | |
which we've been circulating on campuses | 6:57 | |
throughout the Durham community, | 6:58 | |
entitled "Shall democracy also die in our hands?" | 7:00 | |
A statement which I hope all of you have signed, | 7:03 | |
have read and have signed if possible | 7:05 | |
you could please contribute to this | 7:08 | |
because it's costing us $785 to rent | 7:10 | |
a page in a newspaper, buy one I guess. | 7:12 | |
So if you can find it possible to make a contribution, | 7:15 | |
we appreciate it very much on the table here, | 7:19 | |
and if you have not signed this, | 7:23 | |
it begins with "Dr Martin Luther King has been murdered". | 7:24 | |
It goes on to make the call to each one of us | 7:28 | |
to respond, I would really appreciate you | 7:32 | |
coming up here after this rally is over, | 7:34 | |
read it over and sign it if you, | 7:36 | |
with your conscience can, and I hope so, | 7:38 | |
we're asking Dr Knight to do that. | 7:40 | |
The second one was of course the minimum wage, | 7:43 | |
the dollar 60 demand we're making at, | 7:47 | |
make a million provision for | 7:50 | |
as soon as possible implementing the minimum wage | 7:53 | |
for all employees at this university. | 7:56 | |
Third, that he resign from the segregated | 7:59 | |
Hope Valley Country Club. | 8:00 | |
And fourth, that he appoint a committee of students, | 8:03 | |
faculty and non-academic employees | 8:06 | |
to discuss the situation concerning collective bargaining | 8:08 | |
this time on campus. | 8:14 | |
When we say that, we sat down with Dr Knight, | 8:15 | |
and he was really nice. | 8:17 | |
He said that the union was started talking and, | 8:19 | |
he didn't know what was going on because | 8:22 | |
he's coming to his house | 8:24 | |
and his house is all of a sudden | 8:25 | |
filled with all these students, | 8:26 | |
and he said to me, he said "Well Bunny, | 8:28 | |
"I see you're organized" | 8:30 | |
And I was saying, "Oh yes sir, we're very organized" | 8:31 | |
He didn't know if we were organized or not. | 8:34 | |
After we talked to him about an hour and a half, | 8:37 | |
he thought that we'd talked enough | 8:41 | |
and now we would go. | 8:43 | |
Yeah, by the way said that he could not respond | 8:45 | |
to the four requests we made. | 8:47 | |
And we kind of entertained we didn't think | 8:49 | |
it'd be too good of an idea to go downstairs | 8:51 | |
at that time. | 8:52 | |
Because by this time, everybody was singing, | 8:54 | |
and really giving us great support outside, | 8:56 | |
which is fantastic, Dr and I didn't | 8:58 | |
know what was going on. | 9:00 | |
And he and us came out eventually and spoke to you, | 9:02 | |
and we realized that we would not be leaving | 9:05 | |
because he was not leaning to our demands. | 9:07 | |
At that time, he informed us that we | 9:10 | |
were guests in his home, and retired for the evening. | 9:12 | |
So we battered down. | 9:17 | |
We battered down at first, right? | 9:20 | |
The traffic was different to the grass was, | 9:25 | |
I guess it'll be tonight, but we'll enjoy | 9:27 | |
an amazing experience, really fantastic. | 9:30 | |
A group of kids out there, | 9:32 | |
between 250, 300 people, students, faculty, | 9:34 | |
a real community. | 9:37 | |
Community for our presence, our concern, | 9:40 | |
and willing to stay right there. | 9:46 | |
We didn't know what was gonna happen, | 9:48 | |
we didn't know whether we'd be booted out, | 9:49 | |
arrested, suspended, what was gonna happen. | 9:50 | |
But we knew that something had happening in this nation, | 9:52 | |
something to which we had a moral responsibility | 9:56 | |
to respond. | 9:59 | |
And this is where we felt we had to commit ourselves. | 10:02 | |
At this time we felt that if | 10:07 | |
white America, if those of us that'd come | 10:09 | |
from nice, middle class homes | 10:12 | |
could not make the system work for us, | 10:16 | |
what chance will our black brothers have? | 10:19 | |
None, and so we have to show | 10:21 | |
that the system would work, | 10:23 | |
'cause if it will work for anybody, | 10:25 | |
it will work for us. | 10:26 | |
We continued negotiating that evening. | 10:29 | |
We spoke with Dr Knight again yesterday morning | 10:32 | |
before I went to chapel. | 10:34 | |
We were in contact with his | 10:36 | |
negotiators in the afternoon, and then last evening | 10:39 | |
he received the news that | 10:42 | |
over the past eight days, his house has become | 10:45 | |
packed, he's completely exhausted, | 10:48 | |
and his doctor had sent him to bed for 48 hours. | 10:51 | |
So although we'd been greatly encouraged earlier in the day, | 10:54 | |
we thought we'd had made a great deal of progress, | 10:59 | |
we realized that for the next 48 hours, | 11:02 | |
about that time I'd say, we wouldn't have | 11:04 | |
a whole lot to deal with because | 11:06 | |
we didn't have the man to deal with. | 11:12 | |
He's put in seclusion, kind of incommunicado | 11:15 | |
with the rest of us. | 11:18 | |
And in that time, we started to strategize | 11:19 | |
in trying to figure out how we could | 11:21 | |
most effectively represent ourselves | 11:23 | |
to the workers at Duke University, | 11:28 | |
to the University community, to Durham, | 11:31 | |
to North Carolina, to the country at large, | 11:35 | |
we had to let people know | 11:37 | |
that this is where we're drawing the line | 11:40 | |
and that we were gonna force a response | 11:42 | |
for these very crucial needs in this community. | 11:46 | |
So here we are today | 11:49 | |
probably tonight, tomorrow, | 11:52 | |
we'll be meeting tomorrow night, | 11:54 | |
at four in the afternoon, hopefully, | 11:55 | |
if Dr Knight recovers from his rest time, | 11:57 | |
we've scheduled to have another meeting | 12:03 | |
this afternoon, it kind of wasn't in the schedule | 12:05 | |
before we got here, but they kind of thought | 12:07 | |
we'd done a pretty good job out here, | 12:09 | |
and so they've called us to see us this afternoon too. | 12:11 | |
But I understand now, | 12:16 | |
we're here, we're really glad to see all of you here, | 12:17 | |
we're really glad to have this great turnout | 12:21 | |
because it shows all those people | 12:24 | |
that I've been talking about, | 12:26 | |
it shows the people in this community, | 12:27 | |
the people that work here, | 12:30 | |
the people down in Durham that we mean business, | 12:31 | |
and now we're out here, | 12:34 | |
and that we're gonna get something done. | 12:36 | |
We're tired of talking everybody's for freedom, | 12:38 | |
everybody's for justice, | 12:40 | |
but we're gonna get something, | 12:42 | |
and we're gonna get it here and there, | 12:43 | |
and they ain't gonna move us one inch, | 12:45 | |
so we get it, thank you very much. | 12:47 | |
(audience applauds) | 12:49 | |
I forgot something. | 13:04 | |
(audience laughs) | 13:06 | |
The demands that we were making, | 13:09 | |
as you've noticed are all couched in terms | 13:11 | |
to which Dr Knight himself could quickly respond. | 13:15 | |
We realized that we could not go in and say, | 13:20 | |
Dr Knight, we want the dollar 60 minimum wage today, | 13:22 | |
because obviously it's not within the realm of his power, | 13:25 | |
nor his responsibilities. | 13:28 | |
And as we thought about the implications | 13:30 | |
of the things we were talking about, | 13:34 | |
we realized that as in most things, | 13:36 | |
a great deal of time, a great deal of influence | 13:39 | |
at this university lie with the board of trustees. | 13:41 | |
And so therefore early this afternoon, | 13:45 | |
we put together a small note which we are sending to them, | 13:49 | |
merely to, from this body, | 13:55 | |
from this community that we have created here, | 13:57 | |
to sent forth to them | 14:00 | |
a short note letting them know straight forward, | 14:03 | |
what we're doing, and why we're doing it, | 14:07 | |
and I'd just like to read that to you here. | 14:09 | |
This is Peter Chesky. | 14:11 | |
We as concerned students and faculty | 14:13 | |
believe that our university must exert | 14:15 | |
leadership for racial justice in the Duke | 14:18 | |
and Durham communities. | 14:21 | |
In memory of Dr Martin Luther King, | 14:24 | |
we have submitted four requests to President Knight. | 14:27 | |
We are fully committed to these principles, | 14:31 | |
and believe that action must be taken | 14:33 | |
at this time of national crisis. | 14:35 | |
Over 250 of us, I'd say, I dont know how many right now, | 14:39 | |
but over 250 of us are maintaining a silent vigil | 14:42 | |
on the main quadrangle until our requests are answered. | 14:47 | |
We ask for your support. | 14:50 | |
Thank you for yours. | 14:53 | |
(audience applauds) | 14:55 | |
- | I think I can say for everybody here. | 15:03 |
- | Speaker's not on. | 15:05 |
- | I think I can ... | 15:09 |
I think I can speak for everybody here | 15:13 | |
when I can say yesterday the most encouraging | 15:15 | |
thing for us was to see 400 people | 15:18 | |
marching out in sympathy with our movement. | 15:21 | |
I think today ... | 15:24 | |
(audience applauds) | 15:25 | |
And we're only estimating, | 15:30 | |
but we counted originally over 700, | 15:32 | |
I think we're over 800 people here today. | 15:35 | |
It's probably the largest rally that Duke | 15:39 | |
can remember, one of the largest in the south, | 15:40 | |
and we appreciate it because it means | 15:43 | |
a lot to the people that are here. | 15:45 | |
I think the people came out yesterday | 15:47 | |
encouraged us to stay last night, | 15:49 | |
and I personally hope that you have been here | 15:52 | |
encourage the rest of us to stay tonight. | 15:54 | |
I dont know how everybody else feels but | 15:57 | |
what about it? | 15:59 | |
The people who've stayed with, | 16:00 | |
are we gonna stay here through tonight? | 16:02 | |
- | Yeah! | 16:04 |
(audience cheers and applauds) | 16:05 | |
- | If you're gonna stay here through tonight, | 16:07 |
I'm gonna call on the people | 16:10 | |
who are here in sympathy | 16:12 | |
who aren't able for various reasons, commitments, | 16:14 | |
or other, we're gonna ask you to help mobilize support. | 16:16 | |
We'll ask those who'll be able to help us | 16:21 | |
in terms of sandwiches and food for this group, | 16:24 | |
we're gonna need dinner, we're gonna | 16:27 | |
need breakfast tomorrow, we're gonna need lunch tomorrow. | 16:28 | |
We might need dinner tomorrow, | 16:31 | |
but we're gonna need your help. | 16:32 | |
On East Campus, on West Campus. | 16:34 | |
To meet under this tree over here | 16:36 | |
to organize in your dorms for food | 16:39 | |
to bring to these troops. | 16:42 | |
We're also asking of those of you | 16:44 | |
who would like to spend the night here with us, | 16:47 | |
at least spend the afternoon with us | 16:49 | |
or tomorrow morning to meet up here | 16:51 | |
after the rally is over. | 16:54 | |
Now let me explain a few things about | 16:56 | |
what is happening today and tomorrow. | 16:58 | |
We have received a call, we are meeting | 17:02 | |
with three members of the top administration this afternoon. | 17:05 | |
We do not expect though that any statement | 17:09 | |
will be reached or agreed to until tomorrow. | 17:11 | |
Tomorrow at four o'clock, | 17:13 | |
and I can explain to you how much | 17:16 | |
you meant to me when I was negotiating | 17:18 | |
with Dr Knight in the library, that first night. | 17:20 | |
Now people outside saying, | 17:23 | |
we shall not be moved. | 17:26 | |
We will overcome, and Dr Knight heard this sentiment, | 17:29 | |
and he was visibly shaken by it. | 17:32 | |
And we realize now that maybe | 17:34 | |
we shook him a little too much. | 17:36 | |
And that's why we have moved, | 17:38 | |
because we do fear for his health. | 17:40 | |
And we are concerned. | 17:42 | |
Our concern is with a good man | 17:44 | |
who is tied by a University, by an institution. | 17:46 | |
But what we want tomorrow, | 17:51 | |
we're asking tomorrow at four o'clock, | 17:53 | |
to those of you who are here today. | 17:56 | |
For those of you, for those of your friends | 17:58 | |
who have never helped us before, | 18:00 | |
to be here on this quad tomorrow at four o'clock | 18:02 | |
when negotiations begin. | 18:06 | |
(audience applauds) | 18:07 | |
I've been asked to make it clear | 18:16 | |
that this is open, that anybody who | 18:18 | |
does want to stay is welcome to. | 18:20 | |
We do expect you to stay with us though. | 18:22 | |
This is the thing, the group, | 18:26 | |
various people here have made a commitment | 18:28 | |
to stay, and we plan to as far as I can tell. | 18:30 | |
Unless we reach some magnificent settlement | 18:33 | |
this afternoon, we're gonna stay until | 18:35 | |
we get what we asked for. | 18:37 | |
Our demands are not unreasonable. | 18:39 | |
And we're not being unreasonable in this sense, | 18:41 | |
this is a peaceful demonstration, | 18:43 | |
and it's a tradition of Martin Luther King. | 18:45 | |
We are asking for certain demands, | 18:47 | |
and we feel these demands will | 18:50 | |
and can be met by this administration. | 18:52 | |
I would ask also | 18:56 | |
that regardless of whether or not | 19:00 | |
we are successful tomorrow, | 19:03 | |
and particularly if we're not, | 19:05 | |
we are calling for a certain strike on Tuesday. | 19:06 | |
Today at Martin Luther King's funeral, | 19:09 | |
the administration has indicated they might | 19:12 | |
call up classes, that's part of what | 19:15 | |
things we're negotiating for. | 19:17 | |
They will call up classic relief | 19:18 | |
for the time of the funeral. | 19:20 | |
We are asking you to boycott all classes on Tuesday. | 19:22 | |
Boycott all classes. | 19:26 | |
All classes on Tuesday, | 19:30 | |
and all other facilities here on campus on Tuesday. | 19:33 | |
Some of us tonight, and I think, | 19:37 | |
I dont know how large a group, | 19:39 | |
but a few of us tonight | 19:40 | |
are beginning a fast. | 19:43 | |
In coordination of what I understand | 19:46 | |
is the USM project, a fast night, | 19:48 | |
we are gonna be in fasting. | 19:51 | |
We ask those of you who are interested in doing this, | 19:53 | |
who are unable to partake in this particular movement | 19:56 | |
to fasten your door, attend that meeting tonight. | 19:59 | |
I dont know the details, somebody else | 20:02 | |
will have to present them to you. | 20:03 | |
But I think as far as I can tell | 20:05 | |
from the expression, we're gonna stay, | 20:07 | |
we're gonna need your support, | 20:09 | |
but I think we can win, and win it we will. | 20:11 | |
(audience applauds) | 20:14 | |
- | Before, one administrative announcement. | 20:24 |
Okay, okay. | 20:27 | |
So some professors have already notified us | 20:28 | |
that they're calling classes off Monday. | 20:32 | |
And we're not sure, we don't plan to strike classes Monday. | 20:35 | |
I don't really know what the situation is here, | 20:38 | |
and as far those of you who want to stay with us, | 20:42 | |
please before you sit down, stop at these tables, | 20:45 | |
pick up a mini-graph copy of our ground rules | 20:48 | |
because we're trying to keep this thing orderly. | 20:50 | |
And just find out what has been going on. | 20:52 | |
I now that even now it seems a little sketchy to you. | 20:55 | |
Right now I'm kind of tired and kind of gungy. | 21:00 | |
But I think that the one thing I've noticed about this | 21:02 | |
is the ways the black people out there have talked to me. | 21:06 | |
The way they've felt about it. | 21:10 | |
Now the reason they won't speak to you | 21:12 | |
is they say, "This is a white man's thing", | 21:13 | |
"This is our job". | 21:16 | |
And they have expressed to the people | 21:18 | |
who arrived at Dr Knight's house, | 21:21 | |
this is the first time they have felt optimistic | 21:23 | |
in working with white people. | 21:24 | |
Because we now have a chance to build | 21:26 | |
a concerted, non-violent action, | 21:28 | |
non-violent action means putting yourself | 21:30 | |
on the line, putting yourself in a position | 21:31 | |
where you can get hurt if you don't move, | 21:34 | |
if you don't do something. | 21:36 | |
Putting yourself in a position where | 21:37 | |
you can force other people through your pressure | 21:38 | |
to do things. | 21:41 | |
They said that they felt that we | 21:42 | |
were finally selling men. | 21:44 | |
That we were as white, liberal moderate students, | 21:46 | |
in a white middle institutions, | 21:48 | |
interested in changing something that | 21:50 | |
they haven't been able to change. | 21:52 | |
I think this is a great thing. | 21:54 | |
And I think the importance of what is happening | 21:56 | |
here can not be overestimated. | 21:58 | |
Because the black people in this area are watching. | 22:00 | |
Glenda Armstrong was president of the | 22:03 | |
Afro-American Society at Duke. | 22:04 | |
But on WDBS last night made an announcement | 22:07 | |
which has since been carried to national radio. | 22:09 | |
And she said that | 22:12 | |
the colored people in this area have been | 22:14 | |
watching very, the black people, excuse me. | 22:16 | |
The black people in this area | 22:18 | |
have been watching duke for a long time, | 22:19 | |
because as they say, if there's gonna be any change, | 22:22 | |
it's gonna have to start here in their life, | 22:24 | |
because it sure as hell isn't gonna | 22:25 | |
start in the American Tobacco Company. | 22:26 | |
(audience applauds) | 22:29 | |
We as students are thinking things. | 22:31 | |
We come to this place, while some of us | 22:34 | |
come to goof off, some come for intellectual exercise, | 22:36 | |
some come to get a cheap skin, what? | 22:39 | |
- | Hey, this isn't (mumbles). | 22:41 |
- | But I think that, | 22:44 |
in telling our concerns here together, | 22:45 | |
we're giving them an indication | 22:48 | |
we are really willing to finally do something. | 22:50 | |
Act, not talk about it anymore. | 22:53 | |
And we can't really say we appreciate you coming out | 22:55 | |
because we're all we. | 22:58 | |
And I just hope we can stick together | 23:00 | |
and see this thing through. | 23:01 | |
Thank you very much. | 23:03 | |
(audience applauds) | 23:04 | |
- | A little while ago, Jack asked me. | 23:08 |
A little while ago, | 23:11 | |
Jack asked me to read something to you | 23:14 | |
in connection with Dr King | 23:17 | |
in this sorry occasion when we are honoring his memory. | 23:19 | |
And the most appropriate thing I could thing of | 23:23 | |
since someone was already reading something | 23:26 | |
by Dr King, was to read from Thoreau | 23:28 | |
who was one of King's, | 23:32 | |
one of the people that King respected most, | 23:34 | |
and one of the places, the direct quote there, | 23:38 | |
was his ideas about passive resistance and non-violence. | 23:40 | |
This is from Civil Disobedience by Thoreau, | 23:45 | |
and it's a short collection | 23:48 | |
which discusses how Thoreau thinks | 23:51 | |
social change can be affected. | 23:53 | |
I think it's the idea that | 23:55 | |
King picked up for himself and for his movement, | 23:56 | |
and for all of us, and I think Thoreau's | 23:59 | |
statement as we think about King as a eulogy for King. | 24:01 | |
Unjust laws exist. | 24:07 | |
Shall we be content to obey them or | 24:09 | |
shall we endeavor to amend them? | 24:11 | |
And obey them until we have succeeded. | 24:13 | |
Or shall we try and stress them at once? | 24:16 | |
Men generally under such a government as this | 24:19 | |
think that they left right until they | 24:21 | |
have persuaded the majority to alter them. | 24:23 | |
They think that if they should resist, | 24:26 | |
the remedy would be worse than the evil. | 24:29 | |
But it is the fault of the government itself | 24:31 | |
that the remedy is where it's in evil. | 24:33 | |
It makes it worse. | 24:36 | |
Why is not more apt to anticipate | 24:38 | |
and provide for a forum? | 24:40 | |
Why does it not cherish its wise minorities? | 24:42 | |
Why does it cry and desist before it is hurt? | 24:45 | |
Why does it not encourage its citizens | 24:49 | |
to be on alert to point out its fault, | 24:51 | |
and do better then what it would have them? | 24:53 | |
If the injustice is part of the necessary | 24:57 | |
friction of the machine of government, let it go. | 24:59 | |
Let it go, pretend it will wear out. | 25:03 | |
Certainly the machine will wear out. | 25:06 | |
If the injustice has a string, or a pulley, | 25:09 | |
or a rope, or a crank exclusively for itself, | 25:11 | |
then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy | 25:15 | |
will not be worse than the evil. | 25:18 | |
But if it is of such a nature | 25:21 | |
that it requires you to be | 25:23 | |
the agent of injustice to another, | 25:25 | |
then I say write the law. | 25:28 | |
Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine. | 25:30 | |
What I have to do is to see at any rate | 25:34 | |
that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn. | 25:37 | |
Adopting the ways which the state has provided for | 25:45 | |
remedying the evil, I know not of such ways. | 25:48 | |
They take too much time. | 25:52 | |
And a man's life will be gone. | 25:55 | |
I know this well | 25:59 | |
that if 1000, if 100, | 26:01 | |
if 10 men whom I could name, | 26:05 | |
if 10 honest men only, I if one honest man, | 26:10 | |
in this state of Massachusetts, | 26:15 | |
these things are hold slaves | 26:17 | |
were actually to withdraw from the fiscal partnership | 26:19 | |
and be locked up in the county jail therefore, | 26:22 | |
it would be the abolition of slavery in America. | 26:25 | |
(audience applauds) | 26:29 | |
- | We have a graduate student from a | 26:38 |
foreign land that would like to talk with us | 26:39 | |
for a few minutes. | 26:40 | |
- | Ladies and gentlemen. | 26:49 |
Great men never die. | 26:54 | |
I want you to take my words | 26:59 | |
as a foreign student | 27:04 | |
and from my love to this country, | 27:07 | |
and to the people of this country. | 27:12 | |
What are the affects of such incidents | 27:23 | |
in a sound nation, a loved nation | 27:27 | |
like the United States? | 27:31 | |
The third world, the developing nations | 27:39 | |
of the early religion, | 27:41 | |
they're all the time look | 27:45 | |
to the | 27:50 | |
nation as corrupt it's standing for, | 27:54 | |
not to what it's standing against. | 27:59 | |
We learn that I look to the United States | 28:08 | |
as standing for freedom. | 28:11 | |
And for justice. | 28:15 | |
But you don't know how | 28:19 | |
a foreign student, a foreign nation, | 28:23 | |
an underdeveloped nation | 28:26 | |
striving against the disadvantages | 28:30 | |
of all proud of (mumbles). | 28:37 | |
How will they be disappointed? | 28:41 | |
When we see injustices landed | 28:43 | |
against the big portion of these people, | 28:47 | |
just because they are black or because | 28:50 | |
they are Jews, or et cetera. | 28:54 | |
I was involved | 29:00 | |
in the base of freedom when I was 16 months. | 29:04 | |
I was telling my professors about the whole story, | 29:08 | |
he is sitting here, political science. | 29:11 | |
I was 16 years old and seven months | 29:15 | |
when I experienced the first human massacre | 29:19 | |
in Algeria against the French rights | 29:23 | |
to bring civilized men. | 29:29 | |
I saw children shot throughout (mumbles). | 29:33 | |
When I examined this incident I found | 29:40 | |
a philosophy behind that. | 29:41 | |
Man shot them because we don't want them to suffer. | 29:43 | |
When I was 19, I was involved in the greatest | 29:53 | |
and the most dangerous area, | 29:56 | |
Crate Rahan area, there was 23 French brigades | 30:00 | |
created to suppress our needs for freedom, | 30:05 | |
for independence. | 30:12 | |
We look up to this country, | 30:14 | |
we look up to America. | 30:19 | |
I love the nation. | 30:22 | |
A strong nation. | 30:24 | |
We want to give you a great nation, | 30:26 | |
and it's not easy to be a great nation. | 30:28 | |
Greatness isn't measured by guns. | 30:31 | |
But what you're standing for. | 30:39 | |
The real ideal | 30:45 | |
is very important. | 30:47 | |
You're real to try very significant | 30:49 | |
the day is to come. | 30:52 | |
You have enjoyed a great system of flexibility. | 30:56 | |
You can and produce anything you want, | 31:03 | |
all of us you just want. | 31:07 | |
To give you an example, | 31:10 | |
in the developing nations ... | 31:13 | |
Who another surrender are just a very minimum change | 31:19 | |
pertaining to human chances for freedom. | 31:24 | |
We (mumbles) against machine guns. | 31:28 | |
Who are bullets. | 31:31 | |
So if we enter there, yes, | 31:33 | |
we enter protesting or doing anything | 31:38 | |
to bring about any just in our striving, | 31:43 | |
and we march thousands, and we end hundreds. | 31:45 | |
You heard about this. | 31:53 | |
You don't need to do this, | 31:56 | |
all of us you need is to | 31:57 | |
stand and to demand. | 32:02 | |
Ask (mumbles) people. | 32:10 | |
I am not here for this. | 32:14 | |
In my country, they're all byself, | 32:16 | |
with the destruction of the Eastern wallet, | 32:20 | |
I am color-blind. | 32:24 | |
And that's what I think we want, | 32:28 | |
in the White House, color blind. | 32:30 | |
They must know that our people | 32:38 | |
that freedom, injustices doesn't | 32:41 | |
come people | 32:49 | |
think the guards and many things they will come. | 32:52 | |
Because they have, they want | 32:56 | |
to have their place under the sun, | 33:00 | |
the shiny sun, the people's sun. | 33:04 | |
And without your help, | 33:08 | |
substantially, without your understanding, | 33:10 | |
calmly, without your organization, | 33:14 | |
accurately, you never can, | 33:17 | |
they have to buy a higher price. | 33:20 | |
In my recent survey, | 33:25 | |
Salvia Mahmoud people, | 33:29 | |
in the Eastern (mumbles). | 33:33 | |
I found nine or maybe 10 | 33:39 | |
suspected Arabs killed. | 33:47 | |
The American attitude and the assigned (mumbles), | 33:51 | |
my God, how can they give us freedoms | 33:58 | |
they can't even protect their own room? | 34:01 | |
How they can give us security | 34:03 | |
because they cannot protect their? | 34:04 | |
(audience applauds) | 34:10 | |
America is a beautiful dream. | 34:18 | |
It's a green, spiritual dream. | 34:22 | |
But I want you, the young men to watch | 34:24 | |
the (mumbles) going down to that. | 34:26 | |
And we have got to be very clear, | 34:33 | |
very wise, but very sure. | 34:37 | |
We have got to re-read the history. | 34:44 | |
We have got to re-read the history of the world. | 34:47 | |
American young men on the once again tomorrow that | 34:55 | |
I love you all, particularly the girl. | 34:58 | |
But the rising of liberation, | 35:05 | |
the enemies of the rising liberation of America | 35:09 | |
in the outside world as they are at least | 35:14 | |
if they want to be polite and informed. | 35:17 | |
Well, | 35:20 | |
we are informed because you don't need the world, | 35:23 | |
so you don't know about it. | 35:25 | |
That's the reason, you need the world, | 35:29 | |
I'd realize the world needs to. | 35:32 | |
You are uninformed, or misinformed | 35:36 | |
because this guide of the nature of education | 35:41 | |
system that you have | 35:46 | |
a narrow specialization, vertical specialization. | 35:50 | |
Student economics. | 35:55 | |
Where is the formula of income determination? | 35:59 | |
And so these mathematics, mathematicals | 36:04 | |
I must say that the people who | 36:09 | |
support themselves | 36:12 | |
in place in what they understand what's going on, | 36:16 | |
they are very unemployment, | 36:22 | |
and I want to press people like say, the Parliament. | 36:24 | |
But I don't know what kind of information | 36:27 | |
they can carry to their people. | 36:30 | |
The rising liberation in the developing countries, | 36:35 | |
in largely speaking, the underdeveloped countries, | 36:39 | |
looking not to the present junction, | 36:41 | |
we're looking to you, to the rising | 36:45 | |
liberation of this country to understand | 36:47 | |
these men and to stand firmly and | 36:49 | |
to help us, and to help your country | 36:57 | |
solve by standing for justice and freedom | 37:00 | |
in a real sense. | 37:05 | |
Thank you. | 37:07 | |
(audience applauds) | 37:08 |
Item Info
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