The WAY to WOW Shows
Make Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Meaningful!
January 20, 2025
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[0:00] who are you and where are you going what are you [Music] want hello and welcome to this special edition of the way a wow shows I'm your host Kevin bemel and we are here every Monday at 10:00 a.m. specific time normally on Mondays is my show trust Estates weekly but today is the uh is is

[0:38] Martin Luther King Jr day uh it also happens to be inauguration day and uh so I'm as I do on all um uh federal holidays I do a special show to to Mark uh the occasion and um uh it is it is interesting I I was uh just listening to a little bit of the report of the inauguration and evidently uh one of the things that uh president Trump is uh vowing to do is to release the records

[1:15] related to the assassination of of of Reverend King and um you know there is still speculation to this day that uh there were others involved um besides um um I'm going up on on his assassin's name uh James Earl Reay uh and um and and indeed if if if that is the case it is you know long past time for uh for We As Americans uh to know uh you know what what what was what what really happened

[1:51] um and I'll talk about that a a little bit more in a few minutes um so I think you know for someone like of my age so I was a child um when uh when Dr King was assassinated um but I um was old enough to um at least um be in the kind of the Gestalt of the times um and and um again I was

[2:26] listening to this report about the inauguration a few minutes go and the person observed that um people have um um sort of um misdirected um Martin Luther King Jr's Legacy he was uh first and foremost um one of the great civil rights leaders of um from you know from the middle of the 20th century um if not

[3:02] the greatest um and and I for again for someone of my age I can't think of anybody who comes to mind bigger certainly not uh um you know president Lyndon Johnson who um signed the legislation um but uh could not in any way shape or form um be considered a a civil rights Advocate um nor could uh his predecessor um John Kennedy who was Infamous for excluding uh uh Sammy Davis junor um

[3:39] from his inaugural for from the official inaugural party even though um Sammy Davis Jr worked tirelessly on the campaign to to elect Jack Kennedy and and in fact and i' I've spoken about this before to his credit uh Frank Sinatra who was ALS Al a huge Kennedy supporter and supported him um during during his his election um pretty much broke with with Kennedy at that point over what he felt was an absolutely um

[4:14] disgusting slur of of his very longtime friend and um Samy Davis Jr so uh you know Dr King was really the heart and soul of the 1960s uh 1950s 1960s uh civil rights movement and uh I think is is is rightly uh honored um W wi with a day um to to recognize his contribution um to to our country uh what I think is not uh very well known is really the part of his life uh before

[4:53] he got involved in um the civil rights movement and and so that that's what I'm going to focus on I think it's important for us to understand the the roots and the upbringing of of the people who have changed our country uh especially who have changed it for the positive as in the case of Martin Luther King and and to have a sense of um who these people are what their what their roots are and and um I think that also then helps us

[5:28] keep in perspective what we may be able to do um and and I think that Martin Luther King Jr's life is is is a testament uh he was he was not a a child of privilege by by any means um and yet he had you know one of the greatest impacts on on this country and and perhaps the world of of any American who's who's ever lived I don't think that's hyperbole so um um Martin Luther King Jr was born on

[6:04] January 15 1929 you will notice that that is just prior to the stock market crash of 1929 and so as as a small child he lived through uh the the the the Great Depression that was not caused by but but that um occurred shortly after the the stock market crash uh I I will say that my father was born in 1932 and my mother I won't tell you when she was born because she may watch this and then she'll hit me um but my father was uh

[6:42] you know only three years younger than uh than do king and so um in in that sense um that that's kind of how I relate to him he was of my parents uh Generation Um what what is sometimes called the um sandwich generation or the overlooked generation because they were too young in general to fight in World War II um and and yet um um they lived through it um and that that is certainly the case with my my mother and father uh

[7:17] he was uh he was born in Atlanta Georgia um to the to Reverend Martin Luther King senior okay his father was a reverend very prominent minister um and alberic Williams King um who was a teacher so they grew up in a very tight-knit middle class family um in the in in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood um of Atlanta which was um a at the time a thriving Center of of black culture and businesses during the era of segregation so um you

[7:53] know um Martin Luther King Jr um did did not grow up with the silver spoon in his mouth um he had an older sister Christine and a younger brother um Alfred Daniel who was known as ad so um he was he was a a middle child I guess I can relate to that I'm a middle child myself um but but he was also I think fortunate to grow up in a family an intact family with a a father and a mother um both of whom were were respectable people and worked hard um and and that is unfortunately not the

[8:29] case for so many uh children um these These Days um so uh from a very young age uh King was exposed to the the racism the injustices of this time in American history um he he saw segregation firsthand okay um if you're not you know particularly familiar um he would not have been able to um eat in restaur the same same restaurants as white people he was not would not have been able to use the same drinking fountains the same Parks okay everything

[9:05] was separate schools were separate uh and um uh he was um at one time um he was told that he could not any longer play with some of his friends because um they were white and he was black and and that was not acceptable and and as as you can imagine a child on a child that left a very deep impression on him him um and uh I I think you know obviously understandably so um but it left an impression that I think set the tone for

[9:43] what his life became so um he was U strongly influenced by his father who was a a fiery preacher um in in the mode of the times um and also a civil rights Advocate um and and his father uh really instilled in um Martin Luther King Jr the um necessity of standing up against Injustice um his mother who was a college educated woman which would have

[10:18] been which was very unusual for a black woman at that time so uh she nurtured his his intellectual and his emotional development so you can see that um his parents had a very profound impact on on who he became so um from the standpoint of schooling um um Martin Martin Luther King J Jr was very smart he skipped two grades and he entered Morehouse College

[10:54] in Atlanta when he was 15 years old so he was a very very bright um young man um now Mor morouse college is an historically black black college it was founded in 1867 in Atlanta Georgia so he stayed um in in in his hometown to go to college um morouse was founded as you can see by the date just a couple of years after the end of the Civil War in 1965 um and um it was uh you know a Reconstruction Era Institution that was

[11:30] uh formed to educate newly freed um African-American men um and um over the years morous um has become one of the most prestigious historically black colleges and universities in the United States and it's known for um its emphasis on developing leadership character and and academic excellence and and it it retains that reputation um to this day it was an all male instit tion um and and during this time that was not at all unusual I know today the

[12:06] idea of Single Sex uh colleges wrinkles but um there are very good reasons uh for for having them and and I think that um um it's it's probably been frankly a mistake to to do away with them um um you know the um Sexes learn differently um and um and um interactions among the Sexes can uh often times detract from what are other um very important goals of of college

[12:44] and university education such as academics and and and and and such so um but in any event um uh morouse uh is is an all male uh institution um and um it has produced a number of of notable alumni including Howard Thurman uh filmmaker Spike Lee and um former mayor of Atlanta mayard Jackson so um Martin Luther King Jr was not the only famous alumni uh or alumnus I should say from from uh Howard

[13:21] University so after um graduating from uh or after um you know as he's working his way I say I should say through morehous um um I think there was pressure brought on Martin Luther King Jr um to follow in his Father's Footsteps as a minister um but he really kind of resisted that um it wasn't at least initially what he wanted to do but after a period of self-reflection he decided to embrace the calling as it's often expressed in in Christian circles um and he was

[14:00] inspired to use the church as a platform for social change now um he was not the only one um um looking in that direction uh the Catholic church was also uh entering a period of change where it became an Avenue for um uh for societal changes um and if you've ever seen an absolutely delightful movie Where Angels Go Trouble Follows um the underlying story to that is the changes

[14:39] uh facing the the Catholic Church um in in starting in the early 1960s and how that impacted um in particular in this in the movie It's Catholic Education but but uh in general the church more broadly um and so uh this was this was a somewhat of a social uh trend that was going on um and um Martin Luther King Jr decided to follow um in that Trend so um while he was at morouse he was um influenced by the

[15:14] college's president Dr Benjamin e Mays who was a theologian and um an outspoken advocate for racial equality um uh Dr Mays became a mentor to King and and really helped him um shape and form his moral and ethical framework so uh in the end um Martin Martin Luther King Jr uh graduated from Morehouse in 1948 with a degree in sociology and then he went on to get a Bachelor of divinity

[15:50] degree from the Crower Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1951 so it's it's you know it's now post World War II and um and and and Reverend the Reverend king um has uh you know has has finished his schooling and is now um embarking on on his his career so to speak um during his Seminary years he was exposed to the teaching of uh the teachings of uh mandis Gandhi um better

[16:25] known as Mahatma Gandhi but uh he always Gandhi always uh um preferred being referred to as mandes Gandhi um and the idea of nonviolent resistance uh and and this was the the Hallmark of of of Gandhi's uh actions against British British imperialism in India um and and and it was with Gandhi's leadership although not solely through him uh that India became independent country um and and did so uh

[17:03] in a way where there was actually actually um not not um nearly as much violence as as there would have been had not um mandes Gandhi preached his his belief in in not in nonviolent uh resistance and that that's I'm not going to get further that that's a whole another story but um but but um the Reverend King adopted that um ideal and it served him very very well um it it it helped him gain the um the the the

[17:42] sympathy and support of more and more Americans as he developed uh his movement so uh he he really Rose to prominence um for his uh for his advoc advocacy of non-violent resistance to racial segregation and Injustice uh and and he first gained national attention as the leader of the Montgomery bus strike in 1955 and 1956 that was sparked by Rosa parks's um

[18:17] being Rosa Parks being arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger uh now um Rosa Parks has um sometimes been misportrayed she was a very intelligent woman um she knew exactly what she was doing she was in fact it was in fact an instance of nonviolent um resistance uh she she was there on the bus essentially on purpose um to to spark the outrage um of of the

[18:52] the whites who you know didn't think she should be sitting in in the front of the bus basically um and and uh and basically wanted to get herself arrested in order to arouse the the um uh um wrath is the wrong word arouse the the spirits of um her her fellow black Americans as well as um sympathetic white Americans to to this Injustice um shortly after that in 1957 um Martin Luther King Jr co-founded

[19:29] the southern Christian leadership conference thec um and and it was it really became the the vehicle through which um he pursued civil rights for the rest of his life so um among the people involved with thec um were of as I mentioned Martin Luther King Jr um Ralph D David abery uh he was a very close Confidant of Martin Luther King um and he was instrumental in in the lead um in uh the Montgomery Bus Boycott

[20:07] um and he was a key leader of thec throughout the Civil Rights uh era uh Bayard Rustin um was not actually a formal uh co-founder uh he was more of a strategic advisor um and he was among the people who introduced uh King to the ideas of of of nonviolence um he all he played a significant role in organizing the initial meeting and the shaping of thec uh Fred Shuttlesworth um another um founding member of thec he was a a a a fiery

[20:44] Minister like of the day in Birmingham Alabama which was really one of the major flash points of of the Civil Rights Movement um in the uh 1950s and 1960s um and he um he led major campaigns for civil rights including those targeting segregation in in Birmingham um and and as someone who has uh ties to Birmingham um it's it's it's a uh I think a a sad um fact of history that that Birmingham remains Infamous um you

[21:22] know for for what what happened there um although now as someone who who been a visitor to that City many times um in in the 21st century um the um Harmony between blacks and whites is really uh I think quite quite admirable from from what I saw now I'm I'm an outsider so you take that what for what you will um uh Joseph Lori another uh early supporter and eventual leader of thec um contributed to um its its early

[21:57] formation and it's long-term success and finally uh Ella Baker who was an experienced activist um she played a very critical role in bringing leaders together um for the initial meeting that helped establish the SCC um and and and so you know again Dr uh Dr King was not alone he had many people helping him but but he was really sort of the the the charismatic uh leader um of of thec and and hence the the Civil Rights Movement

[22:33] so um the first meeting of thec took place on January 10 and 11 1957 it was held at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia where King was co-pastor um it was a it had a different name originally I'm going to read the name here um I've got it in my notes the southern leadership conference on transportation and nonviolent integration so you can see why they the name that's a pretty laborious one to be um speaking out and and also the it would be the slct ni and it doesn't really you know

[23:08] roll off the lips like thec so uh um as president of the SCLC king led you know numerous civil rights campaigns including the Birmingham campaign the March on Washington in 1963 and the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 and of course at the March on Washington um he gave his famous I Have a Dream speech which um I'm I'm going to read in in a few minutes um if I can get through it without uh tearing up um and

[23:45] um and and so um uh you know there were you know King won major victories in the Civil Rights Movement the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 uh enshrining in federal law that which um had been um you know made uh Constitutional Amendments post post Civil War but were being um undermined by segregationists um and and and I in in

[24:20] in um Justice to um Southerners um we tend to think of uh segregation as being purely a a southern as in Southeastern phenomenon that is not the case um segregation happened in many if not most parts of the United States in one form or another um in New York City which uh you know um youve you've probably heard of Harlem and The Cotton Club um Harlem was the place

[24:55] where blacks lived uh by and large they did not live in white neighborhoods here in Los Angeles you can buy houses in certain areas and you will still find um racial deed restrictions that do not permit the houses to be sold to blacks Jews um and I think um Chinese now those um deed restrictions are preempted by federal law so they have no um they have no effect um as As a matter of law but um uh

[25:32] segregation was not solely a a southern us phenomenon um it was uh throughout the United States nor by the way was the Klux clan um which which also is is thought to be um something relegated just to um the the former Confederate states that's not at all the case uh Indiana Iowa many Midwest Western States had branches of the clue Klux clan um and uh and and so uh um the uh this the

[26:09] Civil Rights uh laws were were needed um to to overturn segregation and voting uh U denial of the right to vote um and and other forms of discrimination throughout uh the United States and and that is um what uh um the Reverend King was was able to accomplish um on April 4th 1968 Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee he was there supporting a strike uh by S uh by

[26:46] sanitation workers um after a two-month International Manhunt um James Earl Ray was was captured um and um I'm I'm G to recommend this book hellhounds on his Trail um so this is a book by one of my favorite authors Hampton sides um if you you you you may not be able to see it here he also wrote ghost ghost soldiers and blood and thunder I've read those books as well um Hampton sides is a fantastic historian and this book

[27:21] hellhounds on his Trail um the electrifying account of the largest Manhunt in American history it details um the last few months of uh uh Martin Luther King Jr's life as well as the international Manhunt uh conducted by the FBI under the um supervision of Jay Edgar Hoover who if you know anything about history was no fan of uh of of um the Reverend King to say the least he spied on him um and uh and and

[27:58] and absolutely despised him and yet uh as as fate would have it he was responsible for um capturing um the the ass the Assassin of uh Dr King um so this this is an absolutely fantastic book I will put a link to it in the show notes um if you've never read anything about um Martin Luther King Jr's life but you're but you're you're curious and I hope this this show does make you curious I would recommend starting with this book it is it is a wonderful book

[28:36] um very uh uh exciting to read um um but filled with the tragedy of the events and it explains um many things uh or it helps explain many things that have since transpired um in in the Civil Rights Movement so um again Hellhound On His Trail it will be an affiliate link as as always and you'll see it says paid link next to it um which I'm required to to disclose so um Martin Luther King Jr day um was

[29:11] established in order to recognize first of all the contribution of uh Dr King uh to to America but also to recognize the principles under which he operated which are equality Justice and the nonviolent resistance to Injustice and to a lack of equality that he pursued um in order to gain the the the

[29:49] ground uh that that he did gain and so that is why here in the United States we honor Martin Luther King Jr and and I and as I said in the beginning I think absolutely rightly so uh so um I'm gonna be reading um uh um Dr King's the speech he gave at the March on Washington um the March on Washington happened on uh August 28th 1963 by the way I'm I'm it's I'm using the text from

[30:24] this book The American reader edited by Diane ravich if if you are at all interested in the words and documents that are essential to the founding of our country you will not find a better compilation than Diane ravi's book you can see how how used this book is on my part I've had it for a long long time um it's it's it's stained and and bent um because I I referred to it many many times now um

[31:00] uh the the speech is best known for the I Have a Dream phrase um and and and and that's fine um but there is much much more in the speech than that and so I am going to read the entire speech because I think it's crucial to understanding uh um the Reverend uh King's Legacy um on on this uh Martin Luther King Jr day so here we go um and and by the way you'll notice by he starts out

[31:36] with words um that Echo um the Gettysburg Address the famous speech that Abraham Lincoln known as the great emancipator for signing the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War um his the Gettysburg Address starts out four score and seven years ago 87 years ago right um you'll hear that echoed here um in uh Dr King's Speech five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic Shadow We Stand signed the Emancipation

[32:12] Proclamation this momentous decree came as a great Beacon Light Of Hope to millions of negro slaves who had been seared in the Flames of withering Injustice it came as a joyous Daybreak to end the long night of captivity but 100 years later we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free 100 years later the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination 100 years later the Negro

[32:47] lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material Prosperity 100 years later the Negro is still Lang Ed in the corners of American society and he finds himself an exile in his own land and and so we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition in a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check when The Architects of our Republic wrote The Magnificent words of the Constitution

[33:22] and the Declaration of Independence they were signing a promisory note to which every American was to fall air this note was a promise that all men would be granted the unalienable rights of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness it is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promisory note in so far as her citizens of color are concerned instead of honoring this sacred obligation America has given the Negro people a bad check a check which

[33:58] has come back marked insufficient funds but we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt we refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation so we have come to cash this check a check that will give us upon demand The Riches of freedom and the security of Justice we have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now this is not time

[34:37] to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the Tranquil tranquilizing drug of gradualism now is the time to make the promise of democracy now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate Valley of segregation to the sunlet path of racial Justice now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children now is the time to lift our nation from the quick Sands of racial Injustice to the solid rock of Brotherhood it would be fatal for the

[35:14] nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro the sweltering Summer of the negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating Autumn of freedom and equality 1963 is not an end but a beginning those who hop that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as

[35:51] usual there will be neither rest nor Tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights the whirlwinds of Revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of Justice emerges but there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the Palace of Justice in the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful Deeds let us not

[36:27] seek to satisi satisfy our thirst for Freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred we must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline we must not allow our creative protest to G degenerate into physical violence again and again we must rise to the Majestic Heights of meeting physical force with soul Force The Marvelous new military which

[37:03] has engulfed I'm sorry the mar The Marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro Community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people for many of our White Brothers as evidenced by their presence here today have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom we cannot walk alone and as we walk we must make the pledge that we shall March ahead we cannot turn back there are those who are

[37:39] asking the devotees of civil rights when will you be satisfied we can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of unspeakable horrors of police brutality we can never be satisfied as long as our body heavy with fatigue of travel cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the cities we cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic Mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one we

[38:14] can never be satisfied as long as a negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote no no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until Justice rolls down like Waters and righteousness like a mighty stream I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells some of you have come from areas

[38:51] where your quest for Freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by The Winds of police brutality you have been the veterans of creative suffering continue to work with faith that unearned suffering is Redemptive go back to Mississippi go back to Alabama go back to South Carolina go back to Georgia go back to Louisiana go back to the slums and ghettos of our Northern cities knowing

[39:27] that somehow this situation can and will be changed let us not wallow in the valley of Despair I say to you today my friends that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I have a dream I have a dream deeply rooted in the American dream I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up in and live out the true meaning of its Creed we hold these

[40:04] truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal I have a dream that one day on the Red Hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of Brotherhood I have a dream that one one day even the state of Mississippi a desert State sweltering with the heat of Injustice and oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and

[40:40] Justice I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character I have a dream today I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama whose Governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join

[41:15] hands with little white boys and girls and will walk together as sisters and brothers I have a dream today I have a dream that one day every Valley shall be exalted every Hill and Mountain shall be made low the rough places will be made plain and the Crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and All Flesh s shall see it together this is our hope this is the Faith with which I return to the South

[41:53] with this faith we will be able to heue out of the mountain of of Despair a stone of Hope with this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful sympathy of Brotherhood with this faith we will be able to work together to pray together to struggle together to go to jail together to stand up for Freedom together knowing that we will be free one day

[42:28] this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning my country TI of thee sweet land of liberty of Thee I Sing land where my fathers died land where my father died land of the Pilgrim's Pride from Every Mountain Side Let Freedom Ring and if America is to to be a great nation this must become true so Let Freedom Ring from the pro prodigious

[43:04] Hills of New Hampshire Let Freedom Ring from the mighty mountains of New York Let Freedom Ring from the heightening alanes of Pennsylvania Let Freedom Ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado Let Freedom Ring from the curvaceous peaks of California but not only that let Freedom Ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia Let Freedom Ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee Let Freedom Ring from every Hill and mole hill of Mississippi from

[43:40] Every Mountain Side Let Freedom Ring when we Let Freedom Ring we let it ring from every village and every Hamlet from every state and every city we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children black men and white men Jews and Gentiles Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual free at last free at last

[44:18] thank God Almighty we are free at last it's not the first time i' I've read Dr King's Speech it's always makes me very emotional I um as I mentioned in the beginning I lived through the 1960s as a child and and the 70s as a child and a teenager I remember watching TV programs that especially in the context of the

[44:54] day felt that they were making Express of of of the hope that Martin Luther King Jr expressed in this speech one in particular that comes to mind that may sound silly was an episode of The Partridge Family where um they're sent uh to do a concert date and their date gets confused with that of a black performer and um um it's a uh the episode uh Stars U Richard

[45:32] prior and um they they need to earn money uh otherwise an institution is going to close and uh Shirley Partridge um essentially stands up and says um whatever we can do we will do and uh uh Keith Partridge and and Richard prior um his character they sit down to write a song that they perform at a street festival in order to raise the money that's necessary to keep this

[46:07] institution alive and and the image of of blacks and whites working together was was very powerful and and uh I I could see where you might uh think again that that's kind of silly it's just a TV show but I it was part of the spirit of the time that people really wished to see um blacks and whites and as as Dr King said um Jews and Gentiles Protestants and Catholics uh really come together uh for the sake of of bettering the lives of of all Americans um I I I I dare say we've made

[46:45] some progress um since um Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated um we have farther to go always um we'll never be perfect um there'll always be opportunities to improve but I I hope that um as as I I hope I have I hope you will take inspiration from Dr King's life from his words on this um the the day that a new president of the United States is inaugurated um that um we we will head

[47:22] into uh a new time for all Americans to work together for our mutual benefit that we uh will um reduce the ranker and um open up our ears to listen to each other um I I I remember when um uh president Trump was um elected the first time shortly thereafter um I was sent to Germany um I by the United States Navy I I was sent

[47:58] there to um what's called relieve take the place of another chaplain who was going home U she was a black female chaplain and um she had been um badly treated by uh one of the other officers at the unit and we had opportunity to talk about that it was it was frankly disgraceful um the way she had been treated um and um we became friends I I'm I'm I'm out of that friendship to this day uh and one of the things she was able to explain to me was why um at

[48:36] least at the time um many black Americans were so offended by um president Trump's election election slogan make America great again um to me um that sounded like a worthwhile goal and she said to me that um for many blacks um they didn't feel that um America W was great that America had consistently denied them um their rights as Citizens um their their right to to

[49:13] Economic Opportunity um Etc and I'm I'm I remain very grateful to her for helping me see that perspective I can understand why people who um who whose certainly whose predecessors were um discriminated against and who may still feel that they're discriminated against um either by being kept in substandard schools or being um uh denied job opportunities what whatever it is these things still happen in our country I can understand why um they they would find

[49:50] it uh at the very best troubling this idea of make America great again but uh nobody um um I I I I'm very glad she was able to uh to bring that perspective to me and um and um my introduction to that unit uh was was was not particularly smooth because I was so incensed on how she had been treated and uh you know we we we spent quite a bit of time together we did a little retail therapy at the stores in Germany um and um um um about

[50:27] a year later um um I got a call from her she had heard what had happened to me um in in Germany how badly I had been treated not by the Germans you may think that for a Jew in Germany that would be the issue the Germans treated me beautifully it was uh the Americans that treated me deplorably um she had heard about it and she called me up um and and we spoke for a little while and she let me know how grateful she was for for my support as as she was you know

[51:04] transitioning out of the her job there in Germany and heading back home and uh you know honestly I I don't think I did a whole lot other than um listen and uh raise the issues that I thought needed to be raised to the officer in charge of the unit um I'm I'm you know I didn't burn anything down I I didn't get on a soap box and and and decry um you know how she had been treated um but uh um it was it was enormously kind and I I think that um that is the kind of uh

[51:43] relationship that that blacks and whites can have in this country if we'll open up our ears to each other and do our best to not just listen but really understand um the the point of view of of of the other um I I still I have always believed and still believe to this day we we have far more in common um than we have that separates us and so um I I on this um Martin Luther King Jr day I I I leave you with those thoughts I I thank you deeply for for joining me

[52:20] um for for listening to what I have to say I would be very honored and I don't use that term lightly if you would Ponder some of the thoughts that I've shared and in particular if you would Ponder the words of the Reverend King maybe read them over again later today share them with somebody that you know who who you think would would benefit from hearing them share them with your children um please share them with your children um children don't grow up prejudice this

[52:57] children are are taught uh to to be to be bigots and um we we we have a responsibility we as adults have a responsibility to help them um understand uh the the the proper way to to live and look at things so um on on on this day especially um I'm um I don't I don't give the background as to who Marie is um very often but think it's relevant Today l there you know be some misunderstanding so Maria is a very um dear friend of

[53:32] mine she lived her entire life in Alabama um she was born um I I believe in the same year as uh Martin Luther King Jr um and uh she lived through uh segregation she lived through the um injustices that were done with blacks and she was she was a white woman um and she lived through the transformation that white Southerners made throughout that era um and um she she came to see

[54:10] um the uh the evil that was uh segregation and and uh racial Injustice or in in Injustice to uh to blacks um and um and so it's it's it's one of the things about her that I I find um most uh admirable um it's it's it's it's very easy to have mistaken ideas it's far harder to to change them and and my my dear dear friend Marie uh who I I got to

[54:47] take care of during the last year of her life she exemplifies to me um the ability of all of us to to change our our views to change our minds and to uh one person at a time uh create a better world and so it it's in recognition of the relationship we had um and how much I admire her that I always sign off my shows by um saying Marie darling you you are my bell you're my Southern bell um

[55:22] because um at one point uh when we were meeting um Marie let me know that that I was her bow but but not in any weird way that that was that was a a direct quote so again thank you so much for joining me wishing you a wonderful rest of the day courage at all times my friends