In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I'd like to take the time to share with each of you a few distorted facts along with the actual truth regarding each matter.
Claim #1: His name wasn't Martin Luther. It was Michael.
Partly true. He was christened Michael King at birth on January 13, 1929, but when he was 5 years old his father, a Baptist minister, legally changed both his own name and his son's to Martin Luther King.
Claim #2: While working on his dissertation for his doctoral degree at Boston University, he heavily plagiarized from another author who had done research on a subject similar to King's.
True. While gathering and collating King's writings for publication in the late 1980s, the editors of Stanford University's Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project discovered "extensive plagiarizes" in his academic papers, including his 1955 doctoral dissertation. All these instances of plagiarism had escaped detection during King's lifetime, even by his dissertation supervisors at Boston University.
Claim #2a: It was also discovered that King's famous 'I Have A Dream' speech was not his own.
Partly true. In both letter and spirit, the rousing conclusion of King's most famous speech borrows, without attribution, from one given eleven years earlier by family friend Archibald Carey at the 1952 Republican National Convention. However, the bulk of the "I Have a Dream" speech was King's own.
Claim #3: King was under FBI surveillance for several years (until he died) due to his ties with communist organizations throughout the country. King accepted money from the organizations to fund his movements.
False. While it's true that the FBI wiretapped Martin Luther King and other members of the SCLC during an ongoing investigation of alleged Communist ties, no evidence was ever found that King was a Communist sympathizer or that the SCLC received funding from Communist sources, according to King biographer David J. Garrow, who examined FBI documents released under FOIA.
Claim #4: One of King's closest friends, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, wrote a book in 1989 in which he talked about King's obsession with white prostitutes. King would often use church donations to have drunken sex parties, where he would hire two to three white prostitutes, occasionally beating them brutally.
False. Abernathy acknowledges in his autobiography that King had a "weakness for women" and indulged in extramarital affairs, but makes no mention whatsoever of "drunken sex parties" or prostitutes, and explicitly denies that King had dalliances with white women. Furthermore, Abernathy writes, far from being physically abusive, King was "always gracious and courteous to women."
Parting Thought: Dr. King was far from a "Saint" & it is my understanding that he never proclaimed himself to be one. He simply was a man who had a powerful vision that was chosen by God to bring about this vision. The issue that I have with society is that it often places unrealistic expectations and labels on people who are called by Christ. Instead of worshiping Christ & seeing him in the man, some simply worship the man. I am so glad that God looks at our heart to judge us in contrast to man looking at outward appearances. I am a believer of Jesus Christ and I know that he often calls forward the people in society that are considered the "outcasts" & "weakest". Dr. King had faults and shortcomings just like every other human being on this earth & while he fell short as a man, it in no way takes away from the powerful revolution that he ignited. His efforts are still referenced 50 years later and by no means will his dream die because I believe that our Creator was on his side. I am by no means swayed by learning that he was "imperfect" because it is universally acknowledged and generally accepted yet some of us still expect perfection from each other. Some of us are so easily DISTRACTED that we develop "selective amnesia" & immediately forget about the good that was brought forth when we've heard about the bad. Yes, we all are held accountable for every word and action by our Creator and that's the key word of the day, Creator. I've often battled with magnifying my faults whenever I am about to write my motivational messages but am quickly reminded by the Holy Spirit to stop repeatedly condemning myself and never allow another person to place me in bondage by doubting my calling simply because they are limited in their vision. It's nothing but a distraction, so press forward in what I'm calling you to do, so pressing FORWARD is what I will continue to do. I leave you with this, It should come as no surprise that some of the most charismatic people can be deeply flawed. There are no myths to debunk, just eyes to be opened a little wider.
Happy Learning!
Nata Bee
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