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August 11, 2008 by enchantingsunshine.
I don’t remember the exact date, but it was around this time last year that I returned from Cooperstown completely energized about life and distracted from my health problems by the Orioles. After spending a weekend with thousands of other Orioles fans, I returned home excited that I wasn’t the last Orioles fan standing. After reviewing my own pictures, I started searching the Internet for other fan’s pictures from that amazing weekend, and somehow, in my search, I stumbled upon Mindpinball. After more than a year of severe sleep-deprivation, I misread one of his posts about a vacation and left a comment on his blog harassing him for not spending his vacation in Cooperstown. It was just a silly comment, all hyped up as I was about the weekend. Never did I imagine the impact…
Glutton for punishment, Mindpinball, curious about the nut who visited his blog, became my first regular reader outside of my family. Believe it or not, knowing that I had a reader, even if only one (besides my mother-in-law and mother), gave me something to look forward to during a really rough time. Though at the time my blog was solely an outlet to take my mind off more difficult things, eventually the thought that I had an actual reader somewhere out in the ether helped to give me hope…something that probably wouldn’t make sense to anyone besides me even if I could put it into words. If I could put it into words, they would be words of gratitude and appreciation, words to thank serendipity and Google, words to express how humble and fortunate I feel for unexpected gifts of friendship when you most need them.
Mindpinball also became the first blog I ever followed and I looked forward to his always well-written and articulate posts. At that time, having anything to look forward to, anything that made my day better in any way was a big deal. Now, a year later, in a very different place, I still look forward to his posts and I am still grateful, for these things that bring me some measure of pleasure.
Eventually, there were others who came to this url and I was grateful to them too, even if then, as well as now, I am in disbelief. Every comment (except from spammers), every interest, cheers me still! (Would you find it interesting to know that my most popular post is about sociopathic killers? Does that say something disturbing about our society?)
You never know the impact that your actions, however insignificant they may seem, will have on others. I have considerable guilt about some things I said to USAIR in particular last year during the nadir of my despair, on my last nerve, and completely empty of any patience for any mishap, first after being bumped from a flight at one end and then having a flight canceled on the other (and four hours waiting in line to find out). There are a lot of words, and a couple letters I wish I could take back. There is always a nice way to say things. I, of all people know better, because it is I who am always amazed at (and preaching) how much impact such a little action can have, the chain of events that one event can set in motion.
Often we might not realize how much the things we say or do matter, but they do. We touch people in more ways than we will likely ever realize. Mindpinball, just by being there in the ether, made a big difference to me, at a time when he couldn’t possibly have known how such a simple action could have touched another person. We do well to not forget how connected we all are to each other.
We are all connected to one another.
(Even, grudgingly, I’ll admit, Orioles fans to Ys fans. Well, I don’t know, maybe I’m on the fence with that one.)
Thank you to every person who reads this blog, but most especially thank you Mindpinball for brightening the blogosphere with your sunshiney clicks, posts, articles, and emails!
I hope you will all continue to read, and that in the future I will be able to provide useful or interesting information to somehow enrich your life (in between the other stuff). It is my goal that everyone who reads this blog will find it worth their time, at least sometimes.
P.S. MP, I owe you a poem, but I respect you too much to tarnish this post with my poor and pathetic poetic abilities (I can alliterate though).
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May 17, 2008 by enchantingsunshine.
In the mid-1940’s, frustrated with growing bigotry, Stetson Kennedy set out on a mission to dismantle the Ku Klux Klan. Kennedy, posing as a fellow racist, joined the Klan with hopes that, in figuring out how they operated, he might find a way to destroy them. He largely succeeded and is attributed with making the Klan impotent and preventing a post-war Klan revival.
One person can make a difference, and in the case of Kennedy, a remarkable one in changing the course of history and the fate of a nation.
Creating positive change takes courage, imagination, and determination, and what we’ve learned from Kennedy, is to be undaunted by the size of the job. While the mission for change may seem insurmountable, and we too small to tackle it, we must remember all the examples of history that have proven how much difference one person can make. How often the whistle-blower, the sole individual with courage to speak up among a sea of participants who further enabled that which they knew to be wrong, that one intrepid person of integrity and character, unraveled a tangled plot of deliberate, intentional, and destructive misconduct. Conversely, one self-serving individual, one man consumed with pursuing the desires of his inflated ego unchecked causes irreparable damage.
Information and disclosure are the tools that protect us. Often the answer to change can be as “simple” as revealing that which the power structure wants to remain hidden, that which happens behind closed doors, or as in the case of the Klan, the cowardly and ugly that lay hidden beneath their bed linens.
The Klan’s source of power came from their secrecy. When Stetson revealed the Klan’s secret codes and passwords, he removed all their allure and power. We have too many examples from recent years showing us the harm that is done by secret societies. Politics, Enrons in the stock market, a war, the pharmaceutical industry, sub-prime loans. Too many examples of a few profiting at the cost of many. We should regard authority with the same eye as the hippies of the 60s. It is not disrespectful to question. It is disrespectful and, yes, immoral, for those in positions of authority to introduce red herrings that cut-off dialogue with distracting arguments about patriotism. (We are fools for falling for it.) Those who have nothing to hide are not afraid of discussions and disclosure.
Even in our personal lives, we see the negative effects of secrecy. Our employers threaten disciplinary action if we disclose our salary to a coworker. Who profits? We, as employees? No, we stab in the dark when we timidly ask for a raise, not knowing how much the person in the next cube with a similar, or inferior, skill set is making. The lack of information about salary ranges leaves us on shaky ground, never knowing for sure if we’re being fairly compensated. Our employer is completely at his own discretion to make things equitable, with a whole arsenal of rationalizations about shareholders and “the good of the company” to allay any self-doubt, protected as he is from ever owning up to any unfairness, encouraged to give as little as possible.
To some extent our economy is built upon a foundation of secrecy. We have a cultural taboo about speaking too directly about money. We don’t feel comfortable sharing our salary or bank balance. We solve this by consuming lots of things so that we can say through them that we’re doing “okay,” okay always defined as and measured by our material possessions, not by our charitable acts, volunteerism, leisure activities, vacation time, or how happy we are. If we’re keeping up with the Joneses, no one has to know the staggering, crushing debt we’ve accumulated. Sales are made by tightly guarding the amount of profit made on the good or service. Whether it be a negotiation for a car or a consulting service, the person in power is the one who has the most information.
Information and disclosure keep our democracy intact and people safe. As Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner state in their book, “Freakonomics,” those who control the flow of information control everything.
Read Levitt and Dubner’s account of Stetson Kennedy here and more about Freakonomics in my next post.
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April 11, 2008 by enchantingsunshine.
Today is the last excerpt of Martin Luther King’s speeches. For now anyway. There is enough material to keep me posting for a month. There’s so much more from his “loving enemies” speech that I want to share, but instead I’m going to switch gears and share an excerpt from his Letter From Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963. It was a week ago that I chose this quote before there was any news about extinguished Olympic flames and protestors, but again King’s words are as timeless as they are wise.
Do you ever wonder at our distaste for protest? In a country where we claim to so value the first amendment and the right to free speech, it seems that we hold protestors in such contempt, or at least annoyance. We find their reminders of injustices inconvenient when we’re trying to get lost in the enjoyment of the Olympic ceremonies.
Protests take place at the wrong time, in the wrong way, using the wrong methods, and disrespectful of “authority,” with which we should only ever silently disagree. Some might argue that human rights abuses are inconvenient. Some might argue that a war protest is not disrespect for troops, but an act of love for the precious lives that might be prematurely lost, and the psychological trauma that will not be eradicated over a lifetime, for soliders who will never receive benefits commensurate with the sacrifices they made.
It’s easier for our government to draw negative attention to protestors and away from its own misdeeds than perhaps to succumb to the interests of the people it’s meant to represent. When writing letters and quiet protests are not effective in getting a government to respond, what then should be done? When we don’t have million dollar campaign contributions, what recourse is left to get the attention of our government? If China, deaf until now, was embarassed enough to end it’s human rights abuses, what would we think of the Olympic ceremony protestors then? Would we admire their courage?
If nothing else, even if we don’t agree with the methods used, perhaps we should admire the courage of people who are trying to make conditions better for others. And maybe wonder why we’re not joining in the protests with them.
Again, enough of my blathering.
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We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.” It was “illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country’s antireligious laws.
Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.
Hope you enjoyed this edition of Heros.
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April 10, 2008 by enchantingsunshine.
A recent issue of Discover featured two remarkable scientists:
Elizabeth Blackburn is figuring out the role of telomerase in cell replication and aging. Her work with telomerase shows promise in finding a cure for cancer and controlling metastasis.
Hans Rosling who invented Trendalyzer, a visual representation of statistics useful in illuminating trends that will help spotlight societal ills like poverty, CO2 emissions, and mortality rates. Rosling has also worked to make data more widely available.
I wish I did something that made a difference in the world. That must be a nice feeling. One day, when I quit or get fired, I’ll get to share all the tales I have pent up. For now, let’s just say that I help support an evil empire.
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April 10, 2008 by enchantingsunshine.
Here is one of my favorite passages from MLK’s speech on “Loving Thy Enemies” (as if I could choose). Again, I’ve divided up the paragraph, but choosing the parts to highlight was a challenge, as every word is powerful.
When I read King’s words I think about their significance in our personal relationships, their wisdom for our nation, and their considerations for the attitudes and values we hold in the more abstract sense. I have trouble understanding suicide bombers, religious or political extremists who want to oppress others, the insatiable greed that drives people to unspeakable acts, but each of us is limited by our experience and understanding of the world. Perhaps these people are fueled by hate, and perhaps not, but either way, a combination of culture foremost, and DNA and environment set them on a course, just as we were set on a course, and still within them, within each of us, is the power for great love. Like the Indian proverb says, it just depends on which wolf is fed.
I may not understand the acts of some, but I cannot judge. How can I say that given the same set of circumstances I would behave better? I want to believe I am different. I want to believe in my own goodness, that my goodness is better and purer than the goodness of others. It is easier to give myself permission to judge others and feel superior by comparison, to set myself apart as somehow infused with more purity of spirit. But this is naive. We are more alike than we are different.
So I may not understand, and it is not easy, indeed, sometimes it seems impossible, but it behooves us to follow King’s advice and achieve our noblest abilities, to love and respect others as a unique realization of creation even if we condemn their acts. To love someone is not to condone all they do, it is only an acknowlegement of how frail and fallible we are. This admission of weakness, of the impossibility of perfection, cannot be made without a long stare in the mirror in which we cannot hide from ourselves our own many transgressions. The forgiveness of ourselves permits the forgiveness of others, and vice versa. It is all tied up together and forgiveness allows us to emerge from the shadows, perhaps still afraid of our shame, but knowing that weakness is the price of breath.
Always to remember, there but for the Grace of God, go I.
We’re better served by shining light in the darkness to help others to see the way to peace than by standing on the sidelines critiquing, all the while congratulating ourselves, taking credit for favorable circumstances over which we had no control. To use King’s metaphor, we must know when to dim the lights, when to not fan the flames and nourish the fire…
Enough of my opining. Now for the words of the truly wise Martin Luther King. Please take the time to let the words sink in as you read them.
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The Greek language comes out with another word for love. It is the word agape. And agape is more than eros; agape is more than philia; agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return.
It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men.
And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love men, not because they are likeable, but because God loves them. You look at every man, and you love him because you know God loves him. And he might be the worst person you’ve ever seen.
Now for the few moments left, let us move from the practical how to the theoretical why. It’s not only necessary to know how to go about loving your enemies, but also to go down into the question of why we should love our enemies. I think the first reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus’ thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe.
If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum. It just never ends.
Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that’s the strong person.
The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. And that is the tragedy of hate, that it doesn’t cut it off. It only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love.
I think I mentioned before that sometime ago my brother and I were driving one evening to Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Atlanta. He was driving the car. And for some reason the drivers were very discourteous that night. They didn’t dim their lights; hardly any driver that passed by dimmed his lights. And I remember very vividly, my brother A. D. looked over and in a tone of anger said: “I know what I’m going to do. The next car that comes along here and refuses to dim the lights, I’m going to fail to dim mine and pour them on in all of their power.”
And I looked at him right quick and said: “Oh no, don’t do that. There’d be too much light on this highway, and it will end up in mutual destruction for all. Somebody got to have some sense on this highway.”
Somebody must have sense enough to dim the lights, and that is the trouble, isn’t it? That as all of the civilizations of the world move up the highway of history, so many civilizations, having looked at other civilizations that refused to dim the lights, and they decided to refuse to dim theirs. And Toynbee tells that out of the twenty-two civilizations that have risen up, all but about seven have found themselves in the junkheap of destruction.
It is because civilizations fail to have sense enough to dim the lights.
And if somebody doesn’t have sense enough to turn on the dim and beautiful and powerful lights of love in this world, the whole of our civilization will be plunged into the abyss of destruction. And we will all end up destroyed because nobody had any sense on the highway of history. Somewhere somebody must have some sense.
Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love.
King’s metaphor about us having the sense to dim the lights reminds of the many metaphors about sharing the light:
Yes, we need to have the courage to dim the lights. By doing so, we brighten the light within.
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April 9, 2008 by enchantingsunshine.
More MLK. Today, I split up the paragraph so as to make the words stand out. I’m hoping you at least read the bold parts if you don’t read it all. Just another one of my tricks.
So somehow the “isness” of our present nature is out of harmony with the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts us. And this simply means this: that within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different attitude toward individuals.
The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it.
And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls “the image of God,” you begin to love him in spite of.
No matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never sluff off. Discover the element of good in your enemy.
And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude.
Another way that you love your enemy is this: when the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something.
Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men.
It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.
Perhaps, like me, your favorite philosophy is that revenge is a dish best served cold. But no, we must suppress our pugilistic urges and always seek the path of kindness and healing.
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April 8, 2008 by enchantingsunshine.
More from Love Thy Enemies. (Oh, don’t be such a baby. It only looks long. Read the whole thing and you’ll be glad you did!)
But after looking at these things and admitting these things, we must face the fact that an individual might dislike us because of something that we’ve done deep down in the past, some personality attribute that we possess, something that we’ve done deep down in the past and we’ve forgotten about it; but it was that something that aroused the hate response within the individual. That is why I say, begin with yourself. There might be something within you that arouses the tragic hate response in the other individual.
…Democracy is the greatest form of government to my mind that man has ever conceived, but the weakness is that we have never touched it. Isn’t it true that we have often taken necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes? Isn’t it true that we have often in our democracy trampled over individuals and races with the iron feet of oppression? Isn’t it true that through our Western powers we have perpetuated colonialism and imperialism? And all of these things must be taken under consideration as we look at Russia. We must face the fact that the rhythmic beat of the deep rumblings of discontent from Asia and Africa is at bottom a revolt against the imperialism and colonialism perpetuated by Western civilization all these many years. The success of communism in the world today is due to the failure of democracy to live up to the noble ideals and principles inherent in its system.
A second thing that an individual must do in seeking to love his enemy is to discover the element of good in his enemy, and every time you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will over-balance the bad points.
I’ve said to you on many occasions that each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality. We’re split up and divided against ourselves. And there is something of a civil war going on within all of our lives. There is a recalcitrant South of our soul revolting against the North of our soul. And there is this continual struggle within the very structure of every individual life. There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Ovid, the Latin poet, “I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do.” There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Plato that the human personality is like a charioteer with two headstrong horses, each wanting to go in different directions. There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Goethe, “There is enough stuff in me to make both a gentleman and a rogue.” There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Apostle Paul, “I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do.”
Of course, MLK wasn’t talking about me. I have nothing of a schizophrenic personality and always do the right thing. But the rest of you, out there, take this to heart. (If you’ve been reading long enough, you know that’s a big lie and I have two minds about everything and am constantly fighting my own evil.)
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April 7, 2008 by enchantingsunshine.
More from MLK’s “Loving Enemies” speech:
Now let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn’t playing. He realized that it’s hard to love your enemies. He realized that it’s difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat you, those persons who say evil things about you. He realized that it was painfully hard, pressingly hard. But he wasn’t playing. And we cannot dismiss this passage as just another example of Oriental hyperbole, just a sort of exaggeration to get over the point. This is a basic philosophy of all that we hear coming from the lips of our Master. Because Jesus wasn’t playing; because he was serious. We have the Christian and moral responsibility to seek to discover the meaning of these words, and to discover how we can live out this command, and why we should live by this command.
Now first let us deal with this question, which is the practical question: How do you go about loving your enemies? I think the first thing is this: In order to love your enemies, you must begin by analyzing self. And I’m sure that seems strange to you, that I start out telling you this morning that you love your enemies by beginning with a look at self. It seems to me that that is the first and foremost way to come to an adequate discovery to the how of this situation.
Now, I’m aware of the fact that some people will not like you, not because of something you have done to them, but they just won’t like you. I’m quite aware of that. Some people aren’t going to like the way you walk; some people aren’t going to like the way you talk. Some people aren’t going to like you because you can do your job better than they can do theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you because other people like you, and because you’re popular, and because you’re well-liked, they aren’t going to like you. Some people aren’t going to like you because your hair is a little shorter than theirs or your hair is a little longer than theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you because your skin is a little brighter than theirs; and others aren’t going to like you because your skin is a little darker than theirs. So that some people aren’t going to like you. They’re going to dislike you, not because of something that you’ve done to them, but because of various jealous reactions and other reactions that are so prevalent in human nature.
More to come…
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April 6, 2008 by enchantingsunshine.
Martin Luther King didn’t expressly address the question of whether it was okay to hate the Ys, however, his silence on the matter seems to indicate his tacit agreement with us on this point. Regarding other enemies however, he had this to say, from his speech “Loving Thy Enemies:”
So I want to turn your attention to this subject: “Loving Your Enemies.” It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation—the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint Matthew, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord and Master: “Ye have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.”
Certainly these are great words, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command. Many would go so far as to say that it just isn’t possible to move out into the actual practice of this glorious command. They would go on to say that this is just additional proof that Jesus was an impractical idealist who never quite came down to earth. So the arguments abound. But far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new urgency.
Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.
More tomorrow…
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April 5, 2008 by enchantingsunshine.
It was 40 years ago that Martin Luther King delivered his final speech and was assassinated. For the next week, I’ll be sharing excerpts from the speeches of this noble and courageous man. I prefer to do it in several separate posts so that his words stand alone (and also because there’s so much to share and no one will read it if it’s in one long post).
From the Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, December 10, 1964, Oslo, Norway:
I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.
I believe that even amid today’s motor bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.
I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land…
Most of these people will never make the headlines and their names will not appear in Who’s Who. Yet when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live — men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization — because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness’ sake.
Those words were spoken 44 years ago. How much progress have we made?
Also, I wanted to share this from Bloke’s Blog. Couldn’t have said it better myself: Bloke’s Blog: We Remember
Other Links:
Remembering the Mountaintop Speech
MLK’s Speeches
Martin Luther King Stanford Research Project
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