"But either we go up together, or we go down together."
On April 3, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his last speech called “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” in support of the striking sanitation workers at Mason Temple in Memphis, TN. On the following day, Dr. King was assassinated.
Today, as the nation commemorates Dr. King as a symbol of peace and the holiday as a sign of progressive unity, I entreat you to heed this two minute and fifty second portion of his final speech.
Here are some of Dr. King's words from his last speech
“we’ve got to strengthen black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-State Bank. We want a “bank-in” movement in Memphis. Go by the savings and loan association. I’m not asking you something that we don’t do ourselves at SCLC. Judge Hooks and others will tell you that we have an account here in the savings and loan association from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We are telling you to follow what we are doing. Put your money there. You have six or seven black insurance companies here in the city of Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an “insurance-in.”
Now these are some practical things that we can do. We begin the process of building a greater economic base. And at the same time, we are putting pressure where it really hurts. I ask you to follow through here.
Now, let me say as I move to my conclusion that we’ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis. We’ve got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. If it means leaving work, if it means leaving school — be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.
Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness.“
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We've Got to See It Through
Let’s adjust our view of today and the movement Dr. King contributed mightily to as a push towards power for our communities.
Don’t miss the message. Dr. King asked us to unite as a people, invest in ourselves, build an economic base, show up, lock arms and march onward in dangerous unselfishness.
