power, love, kindness & justice

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. day. Normally on this day, I’d take a moment to read his “I Have a Dream” speech in its entirety; but this year, I felt it really important to do more of a deep dive. Doing so helped test some of the assumptions I’d made about him.

For example, I’d known that King was deeply influenced by the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, but it was lovely to read about it in his own words. From The Autobiography of Martin Luther King:

“Like most people, I had heard of Gandhi but I had never studied him seriously. As I read I became deeply fascinated by his campaigns of nonviolent resistance. I was particularly moved by his Salt March to the sea and his numerous fasts. The whole concept of satyagraha (satya is truth which equals love, and agraha is force; satyagraha, therefore, means truth force or love force) was profoundly significant to me. As I delved deeper into the philosophy of Gandhi, my skepticism concerning the power of love gradually diminished, and I came to see for the first time its potency in the area of social reform … it was in this Gandhian emphasis on love and nonviolence that I discovered the method of social reform I had been seeking.”

Because of this, I’d always considered King a pacifist, but apparently, I couldn’t have been more wrong. In fact, King himself apparently distinguished himself from other pacifists. In this old article “The Radicalism of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Nonviolent Resistance,” Washington Post writer David Chappell cites the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956 led by King, writing the movement “carried a stick.” “Until the bus company caved, it would suffer declining revenue, a federal lawsuit and a compromised investment climate in the downtown business district,” He continues:

“King’s nonviolence was, above all, a practical technique. King called it active resistance, in contrast to the more familiar term, ‘passive resistance,’ which he said ‘gives the false impression that this is a do-nothing method.’

“King rebelled against the pacifist attitudes that so many liberal Christians in his day embraced. To King, conventional pacifism required too much faith in human goodness. King believed that pacifists’ moral purity also imbued their cause with a self-rightousness that alienated the ordinary masses that he identified with … King believed that his ‘militant,’ ‘coercive’ and ‘realistic’ version of nonviolence overcame the weaknesses of pacifism and passive resistance.”

When I read this, I caught my breath: this is exactly what I mean when I say kindness is a power move. I think when most people hear this, they think I mean that we should be pleasant to others, and under no circumstances should we ever escalate conflict. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Yes, of course I mean move with integrity and dignity, and an understanding that while anger is a powerful spark to action, it is dangerous fuel. But I also mean hold people accountable. And speak up in the face of unkindness or injustice. And stand in defense of those who do not share your privilege. And as one of King’s acolytes, the late, great John Lewis encouraged, get into some good trouble.

But, of course, Dr. King says it better than I ever could. In Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, his fourth and final book before his assassination, he writes:

“One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and power are usually contrasted as polar opposites. Love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love. What is needed is the realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.”

Given that I often wonder if there’s any possibility for this country — or the world, even — to become more communal rather than chaotic, these thoughts feel like something that would be good to keep in mind.

So on that note, here’s my wish for all of us this week: that going forward, we consider ways we can engage in active resistance based in militant nonviolence, we express love rooted in justice, and we remember that kindness is a power move.