[NFBOH-Cleveland] Salute! Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968

[Cheryl Fields]

Greetings to the Beloved Community,

On Monday, January 15th, , the nation and the world will celebrate the
life and legacy of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.

Some of us will attend community celebrations and some of us will
offer our time, talent and treasure to service.

On January 15th,however you decide to commemorate the late Dr. King,
It's important to remember why! The civil rights movement is alive and
well within the federation because of the dedication, determination
and compassion men like Dr. Kenneth Jernigan and Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. demonstrated during their lifetimes for the "Beloved
Community."

Below I have pasted information about the King philosophy. Take time
to compare the National Federation of the Blind philosophy with the
one below. Thank you and believe that, We Shall Overcome Someday!

Yours In Service,

Cheryl E. Fields Secretary

 THE BELOVED COMMUNITY
“The Beloved Community” is a term that was first coined in the early
days of the 20th Century by the philosopher-theologian Josiah Royce,
who founded the Fellowship of Reconciliation. However, it was Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., also a member of the Fellowship of
Reconciliation, who popularized the term and invested it with a deeper
meaning which has captured the imagination of people of goodwill all
over the world.
For Dr. King, The Beloved Community was not a lofty utopian goal to be
confused with the rapturous image of the Peaceable Kingdom, in which
lions and lambs coexist in idyllic harmony. Rather, The Beloved
Community was for him a realistic, achievable goal that could be
attained by a critical mass of people committed to and trained in the
philosophy and methods of nonviolence.
Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people
can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community,
poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because
international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and
all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by
an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved
Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful
conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of
military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred.
Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict.
Dr. King’s Beloved Community was not devoid of interpersonal, group or
international conflict. Instead he recognized that conflict was an
inevitable part of human experience. But he believed that conflicts
could be resolved peacefully and adversaries could be reconciled
through a mutual, determined commitment to nonviolence. No conflict,
he believed, need erupt in violence. And all conflicts in The Beloved
Community should end with reconciliation of adversaries cooperating
together in a spirit of friendship and goodwill.
As early as 1956, Dr. King spoke of The Beloved Community as the end
goal of nonviolent boycotts. As he said in a speech at a victory rally
following the announcement of a favorable U.S. Supreme Court Decision
desegregating the seats on Montgomery’s busses, “the end is
reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the
Beloved Community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love
that can transform opponents into friends. It is this type of
understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old
age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which
will bring about miracles in the hearts of men.”
An ardent student of the teachings of Mohandas K. Gandhi, Dr. King was
much impressed with the Mahatma’s befriending of his adversaries, most
of whom professed profound admiration for Gandhi’s courage and
intellect. Dr. King believed that the age-old tradition of hating
one’s opponents was not only immoral, but bad strategy which
perpetuated the cycle of revenge and retaliation. Only nonviolence, he
believed, had the power to break the cycle of retributive violence and
create lasting peace through reconciliation.
In a 1957 speech, Birth of A New Nation, Dr. King said, “The aftermath
of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community. The aftermath
of nonviolence is redemption. The aftermath of nonviolence is
reconciliation. The aftermath of violence is emptiness and
bitterness.” A year later, in his first book Stride Toward Freedom,
Dr. King reiterated the importance of nonviolence in attaining The
Beloved Community. In other words, our ultimate goal is integration,
which is genuine inter-group and inter-personal living. Only through
nonviolence can this goal be attained, for the aftermath of
nonviolence is reconciliation and the creation of the Beloved
Community.
In his 1959 Sermon on Gandhi, Dr. King elaborated on the after-effects
of choosing nonviolence over violence: “The aftermath of nonviolence
is the creation of the beloved community, so that when the battle’s
over, a new relationship comes into being between the oppressed and
the oppressor.” In the same sermon, he contrasted violent versus
nonviolent resistance to oppression. “The way of acquiescence leads to
moral and spiritual suicide. The way of violence leads to bitterness
in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. But, the way of
non-violence leads to redemption and the creation of the beloved
community.”
The core value of the quest for Dr. King’s Beloved Community was agape
love. Dr. King distinguished between three kinds of love:  eros, “a
sort of aesthetic or romantic love”; philia, “affection between
friends” and agape, which he described as “understanding, redeeming
goodwill for all,” an “overflowing love which is purely spontaneous,
unmotivated, groundless and creative”…”the love of God operating in
the human heart.” He said that “Agape does not begin by discriminating
between worthy and unworthy people…It begins by loving others for
their sakes” and “makes no distinction between a friend and enemy; it
is directed toward both…Agape is love seeking to preserve and create
community.”
In his 1963 sermon, Loving Your Enemies, published in his book,
Strength to Love, Dr. King addressed the role of unconditional love in
struggling for the beloved Community. ‘With every ounce of our energy
we must continue to rid this nation of the incubus of segregation. But
we shall not in the process relinquish our privilege and our
obligation to love. While abhorring segregation, we shall love the
segregationist. This is the only way to create the beloved community.”
One expression of agape love in Dr. King’s Beloved Community is
justice, not for any one oppressed group, but for all people. As Dr.
King often said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.” He felt that justice could not be parceled out to
individuals or groups, but was the birthright of every human being in
the Beloved Community. I have fought too long hard against segregated
public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concerns,” he
said. “Justice is indivisible.”
In a July 13, 1966 article in Christian Century Magazine, Dr. King
affirmed the ultimate goal inherent in the quest for the Beloved
Community: “I do not think of political power as an end. Neither do I
think of economic power as an end. They are ingredients in the
objective that we seek in life. And I think that end of that objective
is a truly brotherly society, the creation of the beloved community”
In keeping with Dr. King’s teachings, The King Center embraces the
conviction that the Beloved Community can be achieved through an
unshakable commitment to nonviolence. We urge you to study Dr. King’s
six principles and six steps of nonviolence, and make them a way life
in your personal relationships, as well as a method for resolving
social, economic and political conflicts, reconciling adversaries and
advancing social change in your community, nation and world.
8089764384

National Federation of the Blind of Cleveland

nfbohio.org

nfb.org

I am filled with hope, energy, and love by participating in the
National Federation of the Blind because my expectations are raised,
my contributions make a difference to me and to others, and I can
celebrate the realization of my dreams with my Federation family.






--