#mlkday

People keep asking me: “As a Jew who was forced out of Iran, why do you keep defending them?” ​I tell them to look at the shoes. ​In the Holocaust Museum in D.C., there is a room filled with thousands of shoes. Silent witnesses to millions who were turned to ash. ​In Budapest, sixty pairs of iron shoes sit on the bank of the Danube. They mark the spot where fascist militiamen forced Jews to strip before shooting them into the freezing river. ​And then, look at this photo from January 8th. Image on right. ​These are the shoes left behind in the historic bazaar of Rasht, Iran. Image on Left. They belong to unarmed protesters who were trapped by the Islamic Republic’s forces. They were gunned down in the streets. Those who couldn’t escape were burned alive inside the bazaar. ​What starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews. ​The same "Nazi-like" tactics used to purge my ancestors are being used today to slaughter Iranians whose only "crime" is a hunger for freedom. When I see those abandoned shoes in Rasht, I don't see "strangers." I see a mirror of my own history. I see a crime against humanity that the world is choosing to ignore. ​Today is MLK Day, and his words have never felt more haunting: ​"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." ​We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. If we allow the fire in Rasht to burn, eventually, the smoke will reach us all. ​I defend Iranians because I know where silence leads. I defend them because "Never Again" means Never Again for anyone. 🕊️ Speak up. Share. Make others see injustice. 

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defence than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., “A Time to Break the Silence,” April 4, 1967

Another one I really like is “must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.”

Happy MLK day

http://www.pb-resources.com/mlk.html

Today, we honor the legacy of a visionary who changed the world through his words and actions.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Dr. King’s words and vision remind us to prioritize fairness and equality 🤝 every day. We’re inspired to reflect these values in everything we do at LetYouKnow.com. Let’s honor his legacy today and always.

“Let us march on ballot boxes.” — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, in Kingstree, SC on May 1966

Happy heavenly birthday to American trailblazer and civil rights icon Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We honor Dr. King’s fight for justice, service to his communities, and dedication to making this country a better place for ALL.