Remembering Uncle [Martin Luther King, Jr.]: Alveda King Reflects on the Death of the Dreamer

Forty-five years ago today, my Uncle M.L., the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered by an assassin’s bullet. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if that shot had never been fired; what our nation would be like if that bullet had missed. Many are the times I wish he were here.

But though Uncle M.L. is no longer with us on earth, his voice lives on in the words he used to change our nation in the cause of justice.

We are a more just society today because of Martin Luther King, Jr. Not because he brought new ideas into the public consciousness, but because he reminded us of fundamental, eternal truths – truths that needed to be restated and lived out. He once asked and answered this question: “How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust?” He went on to explain:

“A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: 'An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

These timeless truths must be restated again today.

Remember Reverend Martin Luther King – let us not forget that he was an ordained Baptist minister and preacher of the Word of God – taught that we are to respect the law. But he also taught that there is a law higher than man’s. There are no commands more deserving of obedience than God’s.

Those commands caused Uncle M. L. to look beyond city ordinances, state statutes, or even federal law for guidance. He believed that those ordinances, statutes, and laws were to be respected, but that they were to be weighed against God’s law or what some would term natural law to determine if they were just.

The same is true today. But some still look to themselves to determine right and wrong.

We are told by the Obama administration that it is “unjust” that women should have to buy their own birth control pills, so everyone else must reach into their pockets to pay for them.

We are told by abortion advocates that it is “unjust” that some women cannot afford to abort their babies, so tax dollars must be used to finance the killing of those children.

We are told by same-sex “marriage” advocates that it is “unjust” that men cannot marry other men and women cannot marry other women, so 2,000 years of wisdom must be abandoned.

And yet, the Bible tells us that human life is sacred. We are thereby to choose life over abortion. The Bible teaches us that natural marriage between one man and one woman is part of the procreative process. We are thereby compelled to choose holy and procreative matrimony.

In forgetting our heritage, in distancing ourselves from God’s moral rules, we are doing Uncle M. L. a disservice, and we are in danger of coming face to face with disaster. So, in remembering Uncle M. L. today, I urge America and the world to remember that he was a servant of God who, though imperfect, tried to point people to the truth.

There Is Another Choice

Recently, Care Net received a refreshing letter from one of its newest Life Ambassadors, Tina Green. Tina is a licensed counselor and social worker who attended Care Net's Physician Forum. She offers wonderful insight and an encouraging critique based on an Essence Magazine article almost two decades ago.

"Where are my sisters and why are they silent?  Others have spoken, have told their stories, and yet my sisters and I have not been heard from.  Many articles are being written by women who came of age in the early sixties describing the horrors of a time when ones sexual behavior had serious consequences.  Abortions were dangerous and illegal.  Birth control was unreliable and not easily accessible.  In some states it was illegal to prescribe a diaphragm without a medical reason.  But, it was not a time without choices. 

Many of us chose abstinence.  For some reason we have also chosen to remain silent about it.  Are we embarrassed to talk about what we did not do?  We did not have abortions or babies before marriage.  We did not have sex before marriage.  Not even with our future marriage partners.  After marriage we carried our pregnancies, planned and unplanned, to term.  Does anyone remember us?

I do not fit the stereotypical portrait one might expect.  I was not raised in a strict or religiously repressive family.  I had no chaperones or curfews.  During my teens I was expected to make my own decisions about most things.  I knew about sex because my mother answered all of my questions and encouraged me to seek better answers if hers were inadequate.  Once, when I mentioned a sexually oriented magazine I had seen, she suggested that I read it if I were curious.  I did. 

My father explained virginity to me by showing me a sealed whiskey bottle.  “As long as the seal is unbroken” he said, “the contents are secure.  Once you break the seal you have no control over what happens.” That was all.  No one said “don’t”; there were no threats, lectures, or warnings.  But, these were not parents you wanted to disappoint.

We should not underestimate the importance of stories.  My mother shared hers with me.  She described her teen years when she discovered that she did not have to do things she did not want to do.  She discussed with me how young men would know how to treat you by the way you “carried yourself.” She seemed to have had a wonderful time setting her own standards for how she would live her life.  She even described dating my father and setting limits on him.  She said being poor and black did not determine how you behaved; each woman decided that for herself.  “Everybody does it” wasn’t a reason to do anything.  How I loved her stories.  My mother seemed so brave and strong, I knew I could be brave and strong, too.

I dated, but was never pressured to have sex with anyone.  In the late 50s and early 60s guys knew who did and who didn’t and usually accepted that decision.  When one of my dates asked me why I didn’t want to show him how much I cared for him I assured him that I didn’t care for anyone that much.  If I had fewer dates than others, it wasn’t noticeable.  Some of my friends were sexually active, and some of them, male and female, were not.  But, we knew we had a choice. 

My reasons for remaining a virgin until marriage had nothing to do with fear of pregnancy, ostracism, disease, or parental reactions.  I had learned in Sunday School that there was a God who loved me and who actually cared what I did.  He had given me life and rules to live by that, if I followed them, would help me avoid pain.  I was also sure, with my limited understanding of God that He would be deeply wounded if I broke those rules and nothing seemed worth that. 

In my early teens I learned that the white gown of a bride was to speak of her purity.  I decided that I would never marry in white unless I had kept myself pure.  In making this choice, I had no sense that it was a radical one.  I was certain that others were making the same choice for their own reasons.  In 1960 it was not extraordinary to be a virgin.  I keep wondering why something that was possible then seems so impossible (almost unthinkable) now.

I met my future husband in college when I was a freshman and he was a senior.  He was an athlete, a good student, a leader in many campus organizations, and active in his fraternity.  When we began dating seriously, I told him of my decision about the wedding gown.  He recognized that this was important to me and did not try to change my mind.  Keeping our commitment was not always easy.  I was not “frigid”, nor was I constantly burning with sexual frustration.   

Our three-year courtship survived “sexual tension” and geographic separation.  He served in the armed forces and I completed my degree.  We have been married thirty-two years.  Our pre-marital self-control served as good training for the many long separations we experienced during his military career.  WE have three married children and two grandchildren.  There have been no abortions and no children conceived before marriage.

Do I regret my decision?  Not at all.  This story contains no grief, no tears of humiliation, no ambulance rides, no fear of disease, no remorse, doubt, or betrayal.  Bearing an unwanted child can be terrible, but abortion, legal or otherwise, will not solve all of the problems an unwanted pregnancy creates. I am grateful for birth control, but birth control and “safe sex” will not prevent every woman from contracting or spreading a sexually transmitted disease.  There are other choices. 

Even as I write this I know that I was not alone.  Many women in that time were virgins on their wedding day and many women in this generation have discovered the freedom of abstinence.  Where are my sisters? If you are out there, begin to tell your stories before all the world begins to believe that “to ask people to stop having sex or to bear children they don’t want is like asking the sun not to rise.”  (Interiors, January, 1993)  Women need to control what happens to their bodies.  While pre-marital sex is being accepted as the only viable choice, our grandchildren have a right to hear our stories, too."

Dr. Alveda King, My Uncle, Dr. MLK, Jr. Would Be Pro-Life

As the nation today marks the contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his niece Alevda King says her uncle would be pro-life and battle against abortion if he were alive today. As the daughter of Rev. A. D. King, a leader in the Civil Right’s movement, King sees the pro-life cause as a continuation of the Civil Rights movement in which her uncle was a prominent leader.

Alveda King called her uncle “a man of great compassion, and a man of non-violence.”

“He once said, ‘The Negro cannot win as long as he is willing to sacrifice the lives of his children for comfort and safety,’” she added.

King said her uncle would understand that to include the destruction of unborn children.

“My uncle Martin would agree that we cannot end poverty, hunger, or suffering by killing those who might suffer,” she explained. “We cannot claim to guarantee equal rights if we deny the rights of the helpless. And we cannot feign ignorance of the fact that those who are torn apart, crushed, or left to die on an abortionist’s table are just as human as we are.”

“My uncle said that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” Alveda continued.

Follow this link to read more. My Uncle Would be Pro-Life   

Celebrating the 1st Pro Life African American Senator!

Pro Life Congressman and pregnancy center supporter Tim Scott will serve as South Carolina’s newest US Senator. Tim Scott, an outspoken Christian and defender of life was recently appointed by Governor Nikki Haley to take the place of retiring Jim DeMint.
Raised in Charleston, South Carolina by a single mom who worked long hours to make ends meet, Tim Scott overcame many obstacles through his faith in Christ and the mentorship of godly men like John Moniz. John was a committed Christian business owner who operated a nearby  Chick-fil-A restaurant. He hired Tim as a teenager, discipled him and helped shape his worldview. Tim subsequently graduated from Charleston Southern University, worked as an insurance salesman, served as a city councilman and state legislator before coming to Congress.
Representative Scott’s reputation as a pro life advocate is based not only on his votes as a legislator but his work in the community. “I have known Tim for a long time as a man of action, not just words. He has referred clients, attended banquets and given personally to our pregnancy center”, said Faye Hill. Faye is the president and CEO of the Lowcountry Pregnancy Center in Charleston, SC.
Tim Scott will be the first African American Senator from South Carolina and the only serving in the Senate at this time. He is a Republican.

Plans underway for Care Net's newest center in Kansas City, MO!

  Each year, thousands of pregnancies in Kansas City, Missouri are aborted, even though the city has no abortion clinics. How? Missouri residents travel across the state line to Kansas for abortions.  Rachel House Pregnancy Centers are committed to providing the women in Kansas City and the surrounding Jackson County with better options.   
    Rachel House currently operates three suburban campuses in Jackson County, where the abortion rate is about 25%. But the abortion rate for black pregnancies in Missouri is an astounding 41%. To address this need, the Rachel House team began praying about planting a center in the largely African American downtown area of Kansas City. They received confirmation for these plans after attending the 2011 Care Net National Pregnancy Center Conference. 
   Rachel House representatives consulted with Care Net’s Underserved Outreach team at the conference who helped them make contact with various African American pastors and community leaders in the target area.  Care Net’s Rev. Dean Nelson shared the vision for a new urban center with this group of pastors and received an enthusiastic response. Now the local pastors are working with Rachel House and Care Net to make the new center a reality.
   “It's a matter of getting our own community involved, as well as Care Net," says Kathy Edwards, President of Rachel House Pregnancy Resource Centers. “Everyone is praying together and bringing together more people from the city.  It is really exciting."
    The new urban center will be located at 46th Street and Paseo, just a few blocks from where a Planned Parenthood clinic once stood. It is expected to open in the Spring of 2013, and will be staffed by center manager Michelle Hill, a Registered Nurse (RN) educator, an RN for ultrasound and a community relations assistant. After the location is renovated, Rachel House plans to move its administrative headquarters there as well.  "We really feel like instead of waiting for them to come to us, we're going to where they are,” said Edwards.
   We are all very excited about how quickly the plans for the urban center in Kansas City are becoming reality. Please join us by praying for this team, future staff members and the thousands of women they will minister to in the coming months and years.  We praise the Lord for His faithfulness and look forward to what He will do through this new center.