2nd Annual MLK TEACH-IN 2019

32:20 Let me express my appreciation first of all to Danielle Ayers. She is the architect of what we are doing this weekend. She is a visionary and of course we all know this is not something that she just does during MLK weekend. This is something she lives and breathes and so I want to salute Danielle for. As Dr. Joe Ratliff says, he says that there are some churches, he said, like yours, you not only preach justice, but you're structured for it. And so we are structured for it because of the leadership, the vision, and the creativity of Minister Danielle Ayers. So I want to salute you and thank God for your witness and for your work. And she's doing all of this while finishing up her Masters of Divinity at Bright Divinity School as well as a Masters in Public Policy.

33:23 And so I want to thank her for her work and her witness. I also cannot say enough about my good friend and brother from another mother, George Mason. Dr. George Mason just gives me hope and keeps me going in more ways than I can express. And I just want to thank you, man. I look forward to this just because I get to hear you and be close to you. And I've had the honor of being on program with him a few times now. And every time I have been edified, but not just edified, energized for the work because of not only his enlightened and enlightening witness, but also because of the genuineness that characterizes his heart and friendship. And so, Wilshire, I want to thank you for having the courage to have a pastor like that in Dallas.

34:24 Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. And George, just know this, if Wilshire ever gets tired of you, just come on over here and we'll have you gladly. So thank you. Thank you so much. I want to look at what Danielle has assigned me, global, what is it, journey towards justice, journey towards justice, prophetic witness in an age of globalization. I want to unpack that, but I want to slide into it by kind of raising a rhetorical question. Have you, during the years that we have celebrated and commemorated the life and legacy of Martin King, ever witnessed or been a part of a celebration that did not have within its theme the word dream? It's like, that's it.

35:18 You know, dream, celebrate the dream. I was in Jacksonville for breakfast yesterday, and it was about pushing forward the dream. It's all about the dream, and of course he did that, what, August 28, 1963, and it's often overlooked that in the aftermath of that, a nightmare broke out, that he unpacks in, what, the trumpet of conscience. And so when he talks about how as soon as the march ended, what, three weeks later, You have in Birmingham, Alabama, 16th Street Baptist Church, the nightmare of four girls killed in Sunday school studying God's word because a bomb goes off. And he goes on to just kind of recite a list or litany, as it were, of the different, what, violent white lashes, as Van Jones would say, to I have a dream. Interesting.

36:17 So there was a nightmare of backlash to I Have a Dream. And so, but when we get together, it's all about the dream. MLK Weekend is going to always be about the dream. We're hosting a program Monday with Pastors Coalition. I just saw the program. The theme is keeping the dream alive. And the amazing thing is that Dr. King self-identified himself, what, February of 1968. One of his last sermons, this co-pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and he said, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice, a drum major for love, a drum major for peace. But I don't recall ever being invited to speak at an MLK celebration where we talked about the drum major for justice, peace, and love. Just trips me out.

37:16 And it hit me that there's been a deliberate hijacking of the legacy of Dr. King to make sure that he is what? Palatable, sanitized, and de-radicalized. And the best way to illustrate this, and please hit that first one. And this blew my mind. I came across this this week. My pastor at Third Baptist of San Francisco, Dr. Amos Brown, who was a student of Dr. King at Morehouse. Literally, Dr. King taught one class, had seven students in it. And my pastor, Dr. Brown, was a student. And he called me this week and said, have you heard about the slave Bible? The slave Bible, 19th century. And please connect the dots with me, OK? I'll just unpack it instead of reading it to you because I know you can read but there is a slave Bible on loan to the Smithsonian you can't go to it now because federal workers can't work and so it's closed and so but there is a slave Bible only three in the world are known to exist now and this slave Bible was on loan from Fisk University in Nashville Tennessee this slave Bible was what was given to, how can I put it, enslaved Africans in the Caribbean during the 19th century from missionaries from the British Empire. I want you to connect this dot because Martin Luther King Jr. critiqued the Church of Jesus Christ universally for its complicity when it comes to slavery, racism, colonialism, and so many of the evils that are rooted in white supremacy.

39:08 So stick with that right there, but go back to what Dr. King, go back to this opening illustration, and that is the mind-blowing thing is that they had this slave Bible, and the slave Bible edited, no, extracted from it major portions of the book of Exodus. All of the freedom sayings of Jesus, because when they were converting enslaved Africans to Christianity in the Caribbean, they did not want them to read the Bible and discover in the Bible liberating truths that would contradict their enslaved predicament. Very interesting. They literally had to edit out of the Bible anything that would what? Inspire, invite, and incite revolution.

40:03 And so they extracted from the Bible, first of all, again, major portions of the book of Exodus. So if you go to check out the slave Bible at the Smithsonian, you won't find much in Exodus. Won't find much at all in Exodus. Here's the trip. The trip is that, you know, those of you who have studied what?

40:27 Scripture and especially biblical history recognize that the book of Exodus for many is seen as that what? spiritual watershed in the history of the people of faith because it's that watershed moment where God emancipated the people of God and yet the slave Bible says we cannot let people know that there is something revolutionary about being hooked up with the God of heaven and so we're going to extract the book of Exodus. We have to take out Jesus saying the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he's anointed me to preach good news to the poor, set the captives free. We've got to take out and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. We've got to take out stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. We've got to take all of that out and then give that and give what's left, the leftover Bible, to those enslaved Africans because we never want to equate Christianity with revolution, liberation and empowerment of those who are oppressed.

41:35 Now watch this. There is what I am calling a brainwashing of the enslaved mind, a brainwashing of the colonized mind and utilizing, here it is, the Bible as the main, what, detergent in the washing of the enslaved mind. Why? Because every empire has to have, here it is, a narrative that becomes the dominant narrative so that when the citizenry or those who are living under the domination of that empire try to think, they always think within the framework of the narrative that is the result of propaganda. And the empire will even resort to using religion and preachers on payroll to get on Fox News and declare that there's a wall in heaven. okay so so so so so and and here's the deal fox will never have george mason on yeah i i i i and i've written them i've said i have a preacher i'd recommend in dallas that you'd like to uh hear and they did not respond so uh especially after after you went viral so uh so so so so the deal The point I'm trying to make is that unfortunately, and again, connect the dots with me.

43:05 If an empire will extract and edit the Bible for its own oppressive purposes, to ensure that its Bible is what? Oppressor friendly. What will an empire do to the legacy of one who literally changed the world and brought about, as far as I'm concerned, a second American revolution? Why would you really want, what, the truth about King up until April 4th, 1968, to be the legacy that is taught when you can stop with August 28th, 1963, and extract the first part of his speech? because in the first part of his speech, as Michael Dyson says, he narrates the American nightmare.

44:06 But then in the last part of the speech is I have a dream. And basically, it's not just the dream, but it's a dream that is what? Confined to that we'll live in a nation where my four little children will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Because that allows me to take that out of context and say, well, there's no need for affirmative action. Okay, so the point I'm trying to make right here is that there has been a history of empires creating a narrative through propaganda, even using religion in order to make what? What they are sharing oppression friendly. at the expense of those who are oppressed. Okay? And so one of the things that has been often overlooked about Dr. King is his global consciousness.

45:03 Please hit the next slide for me. His global consciousness. There was a piece I saw while I was traveling recently, and it was talking about how when you are thinking about changing towels or changing sheets, think about its impact on the environment. And the very catchy phrase that arrested my attention was this. It said, think globally, act locally. I like that. Think globally, act locally. You know, I love that because if anyone should be doing that, it should be people who call themselves followers of Jesus. We think globally. Why not? After all, we were commissioned to go into all the world. Why not? Because we're to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the... You got me.

45:56 And so what I'm suggesting is that that metaphor, as far as I'm concerned, speaks profoundly to the real ministry of Martin Luther King, Jr. He acted locally, but he thought globally. And I think that's very important for us to grab. So hit the next slide for me, please. King martyred in 1968, according to Dr. James Washington, America lost its most effective profit. Oppressed people both at home and abroad lost its most articulate voice. His prophetic words mirrored a 20th century America that had acquired global power, watch this, but one that had also sacrificed some of its most treasured values on the altar of institutional racism, economic justice, and international influence. So at the same time, America is rising in power, its values articulated in what?

46:51 The Constitution and Declaration of Independence are being sacrificed according to James Washington when it came to the areas of economic exploitation, international influence, and racism. And so Martin Luther King Jr. cannot be relegated, cannot be confined to being a dreamer on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963, only limited to what's going on in America. He had a global consciousness, a global consciousness that's dangerous for the 21st century. It's very dangerous and it's so dangerous. I'm asking you right now to get ready to pray for me because the stuff I'm going to unpack and apply to the 21st century is going to be unsettling and disruptive to a narrative, a narrative that is promoted by the American empire.

47:54 So hang with me. Don't give up on me, but we're going to try to unpack some stuff. That's kind of off-filter. Can we slide it over a little bit? Or not? We can't... Alright, no. Alright, so let me see if I can read this, because I want to make sure we get this. That was real ghetto, huh? Alright. Forgive me, forgive me. Right, right. Okay. So three sources are going to inform my presentation. Let me just say this right quick. King and the American Civil Rights Movement helped inspire the 1965 adoption of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The first, don't miss that, international human rights treaty after the 48th Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. So again, understand that the influence of King even hit the United Nations, so much so that there was an international convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination.

49:03 My presentation is going to be informed by three sources. Number one, his trip to Ghana. Number two, his prophetic and courageous and costly stance against the war in Vietnam. Please understand when King April 4th 1967 a year to the day when he would be assassinated when he took that stand in Riverside Church it cost him. It cost him because to be authentically prophetic and globally conscious in our journey to justice to tell the truth is to pay a price. You cannot tell the truth in an empire that contradicts the narrative and not pay a price for it. Okay? It's just going to happen. So King, that's going to be a source as well as, as George has mentioned, his radical vision for a world house described in that last chapter of where do we go from here, chaos or community. hit the next slide please, I want to suggest that King had a global consciousness and he connected the dots of justice in that speech. What? April 4th, 1967. Bombs dropped in Vietnam would explode in the major cities of the United States of America. That's a profound poetic phrase that I think we need more and more to unpack. It metaphorically speaks of so much. Dr. King unpacked it further when he talked about how there was up until the war in Vietnam, the beginning of a war on poverty in this country, that there was an all-out determination that America, as the most powerful, prosperous nation on the planet, cannot have all of these third world conditions that, you know, people in the country were experiencing and still experience. And Dr. King noticed, watch this, As the buildup of the war in Vietnam continued to escalate, the more resources that were given to what?

51:08 Establishing military strength or feeding the war in Vietnam. All of a sudden, the war on poverty began to be drained of resources. And Dr. King, again, is connecting those dots and saying, if we are going to have the most powerful military in the world, does it mean that we're going to take money away from social programs of human uplift? Look at him connecting the dots while living in the American empire. Very important point to note. I also want to suggest that he made this statement, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. That's not just confined to this country. Injustice in, watch it, South Africa is a threat to justice in South Africa. Dallas okay injustice in North America is a threat to justice in Japan I'm simply saying that that Dr. King was talking about a world house and if you all live in the same house watch this and perhaps you're on the penthouse level of the house and all is well but in the basement there is mold in the basement. There are toxins. Please recognize eventually what's going on in the basement is going to poison what happens in the penthouse. That's the prophetic wisdom and brilliance of Martin Luther King Jr. And so I want to suggest that King, again, was globally conscious and during this weekend, as we think about his dream, let's also think about his vision of a world house. Let me talk to black people right quick because he made this statement speaking to us. King said, however deeply American Negroes are caught in the struggle to be at last to be at last home in our homeland of the United States, we cannot ignore the larger world house in which we are dwellers. Equality with whites will not solve the problem of either whites or

53:14 Negroes if it means equality in a world society stricken by poverty and in a universe doomed to extinction by war. So King is saying say we go ahead and get equality, equity, freedom, and justice in this country but the world is characterized, the world around us is characterized by impoverishment and and militarism and war and really equality and equity in a country that is characterized by what? Extreme materialism, economic exploitation. There's some stuff you just don't want equality in. I mean, so you really want equity in a country that exploits economically impoverished third world countries? I tell you what happened to me.

54:09 They really messed me up. I was in what? Cape Town, South Africa back in September for a conference and stayed at this fine hotel. and this is where King's wisdom and vision hit me and left me feeling guilty and having a hard time enjoying that trip as an American citizen. Because you know what happened last year, 46 minus 1, the Lion King referred to countries of color as what? Trump hole countries. Okay, so y'all caught it, didn't you? So that's what he called them. And in referring to them as Trump-hoke countries, some of them had the nerve to push back. One such country was South Africa.

55:06 So the president of South Africa made a statement and Lion King didn't like it. And by the time I got to South Africa, he had enforced some American, oh my God, what was it? I'm sorry, the wording right now is escaping me. The bottom line is that a policy took place against South Africa. So by the time I got to South Africa, the value of the South African RAND was so low that, I mean, their economy was just suffering. But here it is. I was able, because I had, what, the American dollar, to take advantage of the weakness of the RAND. and buy all kind of stuff, you know, if I wanted to, at little cost to me, but great expense to them.

56:08 And for the first time, I literally went to South Africa and did not come back with a whole lot of stuff. Why? Because I had to come up in my mind with morally, The question is, is it okay for me to benefit from an empire that has now economically exploited a country that does not have its military weaponry? Do I take advantage of that and buy all kind of stuff, or do I stand in solidarity with South Africans who are struggling? Now you're looking at me strange, but you also experience that when you go to the Caribbean. You're looking at me strange, but you experience that whenever you go to a country of color. And again, watch this. They dominate the population, but they don't own the hotels.

57:08 So I'm asking us, okay, we're going to celebrate King. Which King do you want to celebrate? A King who is empire friendly or a King who is globally conscious? Okay. I'll keep it moving so we got, oh, good, okay. So hit the next one for me, please. Next one, please. All right. King's horizons stretch much further than the borders of the U.S. His imagination ran deeper. One of his key sources of inspiration and resolve was independence movements in Africa, which were sweeping the continent exactly the same time as he was pushing for rights for black people in America. 1955, 56, we know what happened. Rosa Parks, what, December 1st, 55, took the stand and it ignited a 381-day Montgomery bus boycott, which resulted in the Supreme Court outlawing segregation on buses there in cities.

58:09 And then watch what happened. There's a great victory. Ah, and there's a great victory. And because of that great victory, the people were celebrating. But then there is, again, a white lash to the victory. Because whenever there is progress, there will be a white lash. I mean, eight years of Barack Obama followed by the Lion King. Okay, you get it. All right. So it's the history. It's the history. So here's what happens. The members of Dexter decide to give King $2,500, which was half his salary, to go to Ghana for the birth of a new nation. The birth of a new nation because Ghana, which had been the Gold Coast, the Gold Coast, Ghana, which had been the Gold Coast under European colonialism, Ghana is now free. And Kwame Nkrumah is being installed, inaugurated as the first president of the new democratic Ghana.

59:11 And so King is sent by Dexter and the Montgomery Improvement Association to go from Montgomery over to Ghana, gets to Ghana, and he's blown away by all he sees who are there. He's blown away because you have Vice President Nixon who had been ignoring him in his letters to him to say, I'd like to meet to discuss civil rights with you. But now Nixon has to have a conversation with King, and King says to Nixon in Ghana, right there at the inauguration, when we get back to the States, let's have a conversation so that Negroes in Montgomery can have the same freedom as black people here in Ghana. And then he looks around and sees W.E.B. Du Bois. He sees the Trinidadian revolutionary C.L.R. James. And as a matter of fact, they have lunch.

1:00:08 And C.L.R. James, if you don't know him, please Google him and get his work. He was an activist there in Trinidad, but he was also a fierce critic of the American empire and American imperialism. Google C.L.R. James. He and King have lunch, and in that lunch, it becomes what? Cross-pollination of two dynamic individuals, public intellectuals, as it were, because that's what C.L.R. James was, a public intellectual, also an activist. He was also a revolutionary and a fierce critic of any empire engaged in colonialism. And so King and James, they inspire and encourage one another for the journey ahead. He also sees Ralph Bunch there and Thurgood Marshall and on and on it goes. And during that conversation, during that inauguration, he's blown away because when Nkrumah comes out to be inaugurated, he does not come out in the vestments of royalty.

1:01:17 He comes out wearing his prison uniform because he had been in prison for fighting against colonialism. And it was during his imprisonment, and you're not connecting the dots, his imprisonment, his suffering, caused him to become such an international symbol that when Nkrumah was released from prison, the people rose up to make him their first president. Does it sound like something that happened in South Africa? Okay, so it's not the first time this has happened. And so here is Nkrumah, but Nkrumah says, when I come out to be inaugurated, I want suffering people the world over to recognize I have not forgotten them. I'm not coming out dressed in royal finery. I'm not coming out dressed in Ghanaian finery.

1:02:11 I'm coming out dressed in the same prison uniform I was held captive under unjustly because I want my tenure as president to be characterized by one who identifies with the down and out and not the up and in. This is a reminder to my own consciousness. And King said that as he was being inaugurated, he could not help but begin to weep because he began to connect the dots and make the connection that somehow wherever there is, watch this, an empire and the empire now that is what? Informed by white supremacy all over this world, that empire has created a common struggle. So the struggle in Montgomery is like the struggle in India, the struggle in the Caribbean, the struggle in South America. There is no disconnect.

1:03:13 The struggle is the same. Very important for us to realize. And so I'm suggesting that our challenge in the 21st century, if we are going to really celebrate King, let's be committed to his global consciousness. this. Hit the next one please. Next one. I'm doing so good. So he indicts white supremacy for building empires on the sweat and suffering of colored people, a nation that continues year after year to spend more money. And here's what I want to hang out with because this This is going to be an interesting kind of conversation. You don't hear King quoted much this statement here, but I think it's one of his most profound. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

1:04:14 How appropriate in this century that a country that continues, as a matter of fact, the Lion King is bragging about the military buildup since he's been president. And we already have enough weaponry where no other country approaches us. We got nine times the weaponry of the closest country to us in the world, and yet we're continuing to build that up, but we don't have universal health care. We're continuing to build that up, and yet we have this widening wealth gap and the elimination of the middle class. And so the spiritual death that he warned us about is happening even right now. Let me keep it on. Hit the next one, please. Ghana has something to say to us. It says to us first, oppressors never voluntarily give freedom to the oppressed. You got to work for it. Freedom is never given to anybody. Privileged classes never give up their privileges without strong resistance. So don't go out this morning, he says to Dexter, with any illusions, if we wait for it to work itself out, it ain't going to get worked out.

1:05:28 Freedom only comes through persistent revolt. King said that. Revolt. Revolt. That's persistent. Through persistent, uh-oh, agitation. And then I have a dream. And through persistently rising up against systems of evil. Get the next one. We've spent far, yeah, King had a radical vision calling for revolution of values. We've spent far too much of our budget establishing military bases around the world rather than bases of genuine concern and understanding. Let me kind of hang out there. So we have military bases as the American empire everywhere. And having military bases everywhere, we have also created a narrative that those military bases everywhere are to protect American interest.

1:06:31 King says, all right, maybe you should try something different. In a revolution of values, how about incorporating a radical vision where instead of military bases, You establish basis of human concern, compassion, and uplift. Here's where it gets dangerous. Because an American narrative, and I'm just going to get off script now and just kind of hang out here. an American narrative that defines some as terrorists ignores the fact that terrorists to some are freedom fighters to others. You don't believe me. Nelson Mandela.

1:07:24 Oh, we, Mandela, we love him now, don't we? Have you thought about the fact that long after Mandela was released from prison on Robben Island, after he had been elected president of the new Republic of South Africa, he was still on American terrorist list. He was still being listed as a terrorist here in America. Okay? I want to know why was he ever listed as a terrorist? Because one person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter. And so King says this, and again, we're not going to like it because it's not I have a dream. King says maybe those of us who live in empire need to hear what those who are oppressed by empires are thinking and feeling.

1:08:29 Maybe we need to hear what's happening from the bottom up instead of the narrative established by the empire that's strictly top down. Listen to what they are feeling and saying. Why is it? Do we really think in this country, do we really think, you're not going to like it, but love me anyway. Do we really think that terrorist bombings have happened out of a vacuum, just out of nowhere? Someone says, I hate American freedom. And because I hate American freedom, I'm going to do something damaging to millions or to thousands of Americans. No. There's cause to every effect. Okay? And you're real quiet looking at me. I don't hate America. Okay? I don't hate America. I love this country deeply enough to tell the truth about it. Okay? And the truth is that the military bases around the world instead of bases of human compassion, uplift, and concern have created a hatred for this country.

1:09:36 Imagine, just imagine, go back with me to South Africa in September. Imagine how South Africans felt knowing that their country's economy had been all of a sudden undermined because of a ruling from the Lion King. because they had the nerve to stand on their own legs with steel in their spine and speak truth to power and say we are not a Trump whole country. And now their economy suffers. And the fact that I'm an American and I have the American dollar, guess what? Everything was cool for me. But for my host, a brother beloved I love dearly, Earl, For my host, he was living long after I was gone with the decree that had been handed down by the American empire. Do you not think that that begins to foment some kind of resentment and resistance on the part of those who find themselves crushed by the iron feet of oppression?

1:10:40 that's something so so so so maybe we need to call for we need to listen to king and say we need a foreign policy that starts to establish basis of concern and compassion we're the richest country in the world uh we're the most powerful country in the world military wise so why don't we use some of those resources to feed the hungry why don't we use some of those resources to challenge any systems that cause people to continue to live in third world conditions because in a world and King talked about it back then without benefit of the internet without benefit of social media in a world that is now so connected that I can literally see what's going on in other parts of the world do you not know they can see what's going on in this country and as as they witness, watch this, from their context of impoverishment and see what's happening here and see what, see all of this wealth and the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

1:11:47 That's real old. I can't even go there. But keeping up with the Kardashians. They can see that in Ghana, in the Congo, and it's like, so America got it like that. And I'm suffering like this. Why don't we use some of that extra to be a blessing to other parts of this world? Because until we capture that kind of radical vision and have those revolution of values, this will continue to be a dangerous world for everyone. And we may call them terrorists, but their comrades call them freedom fighters. And King foresaw that. I'm asking us to grab that king, that king that said, you know, let's establish basis of concern, compassion, and human uplift. I'll go ahead and begin to wrap this.

1:12:41 And so we need a Marshall Plan. King was calling for Asia, Africa, Central, and South America, and in the communities of color in the United States, so we can wipe out poverty, ignorance, and disease from the face of the earth. What a radical vision. That ain't I have a dream. That's like we need a Marshall Plan. Okay, so you look real strange. Anybody know what a Marshall Plan is? Okay, thank you, thank you. Okay, too many of you didn't raise your hands. Please Google that, okay? Because that's what happened in the aftermath of World War II because this country had what? Devastated countries, and so the idea was to rebuild those countries countries with a radical investment that resulted in their being rebuilt. And King was saying we need that same kind of Marshall Plan in Asia, South America, I add Central America, not to mention the communities of color in the United States of America. That ain't I have a dream. That's King, the real King. Hit the next one please. He called for America to moralize her power. Jesus is an example of how you moralize power. I love this. Have you thought about the fact Jesus had so much power that in Matthew 4, the devil comes along and devil says, yo, G, I know you're on fast right now. You've been doing this 40 days, 40 nights. Won't you use your power to turn these stones into bread? G said, no, I ain't going out like that. Man should not live by bread alone. Fast forward 10 chapters later, they're in the wilderness again, but this time you got a multitude and so uh his disciples come and say man we got to send them home uh because it's getting late and we can't feed all these people he said no we're gonna feed them how much uh do we have and they said all we got is a two piece and five uh two piece and five biscuits they said well that that ain't enough to handle this multitude he said well give it to me and he took the two piece five biscuits and you had a pop-up banquet in the wilderness

1:14:48 Now, a pop-up banquet in the wilderness because he had the power to feed the community. But 10 chapters before, he did not use that power to feed himself. America, you love Jesus? Use your power not to feed yourself, but to feed a world that is torn up by ignorance, poverty, and disease. That's what King was all about. and so I'll wrap it I'll wrap it Martin Luther King Jr. please don't forget this Martin Luther King Jr. came from a middle class black family but he died fighting for impoverished people the world over there's something really parochial about your Christianity if all you do is want to give to people who are like you and around you King said, I'm using my power a la Jesus because even though I'm middle class, even though I got a Ph.D. from Boston University, I'm going to use all of that.

1:15:58 Last night we had this brilliant brother man. Please wave your hand in the air like you know you care. Dr. Sante Todd. Dr. Sante Todd in the Q&A just dropped a bomb on me. He said King had what? A strong mind with a heart for people. Doc, I'm preaching that all the time, okay? A strong mind with a heart, because a lot of people got strong minds but don't have a heart for people. And some folk have a heart for people, but they ain't got a heart. All right? And so King has all of that. And because he has all of that, what does King do? King says, I'm going to use my Ph.D. I'm going to use my what? My middle class background and influence as a preacher of the gospel to be a blessing to people. I'm going to Memphis, Tennessee against the objections of my staff at SCLC. I'm going to Memphis, Tennessee to stand with striking sanitation workers, middle class hanging out with those in lower classes.

1:16:57 I'm organizing the poor people's campaign. I'm standing against injustice economically of the American empire around the country. I'm middle class. But guess what? if I get caught up in my middle classness and don't use my blessings to be a blessing, I may hear God say to me, class dismissed. So, I'm pleading with us to here refresh the global witness of Martin Luther King, Jr. His global witness will further our journey to justice. Not just the dream, but it's a journey to justice that is global. It's global. It's not limited to where we are. I challenge you.

1:17:50 I challenge you when I'm done. I challenge you as you go on vacations to consider where you go. And as you consider where you go, and I'm talking to me, as you consider where you go, consider how you can be a blessing to those who clean your rooms as opposed to those who own the hotel.

1:18:13 Let's establish bases of concern, compassion, and uplift. I challenge you. to look at our own foreign policy as a country. How are we treating countries of color? And I ask this, and I'm done. Do you really think if, and it wouldn't happen, if the president had done to South Africa in September or had done to Israel what he did to South Africa, that the Jewish lobby would have remained quiet? Countries of color in this country have no lobby who will stand up for them. I'm talking to my peeps right now because the sad reality is we don't stand up. We don't stand up for our policies that hurt Jamaica, Trinidad, South Africa. We don't stand up.

1:19:17 They have no lobby here that stands up for them like Israel has a Jewish lobby that stands up for them. You want to celebrate Cain?