Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution
Written by Jeremiah Ortiz & Miko Underwood
Today we pay homage to a monumental figure in American Culture, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Winner of numerous awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Dr King’s timeless words continue to influence generations.
While reviewing some of his most impactful speeches in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, we were moved by Dr. King’s final sermon before his untimely death, titled,” Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution. “
Dr. King spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. on Sunday March 31, 1968, with gratitude and relief to take a break from the demands of the fight for freedom & human dignity. He quotes the book of Revelations, “Behold I make all things new, former things are passed away” as the inspiration for his speech “Remaining awake through a great revolution.”
During his speech, Dr. King points to our interconnectedness, “We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.” eloquently describing how one’s actions impacts the whole of humanity.
Nearly 57 years later, Dr. King’s “Remaining awake through a great revolution,” eerily calls attention to the global consciousness we currently face. A triple revolution that requires us to respond boldly with hope and unity.
We invite you to be inspired by the courage, selflessness and strength of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“And one of the great liabilities of life is that all too many people find themselves living amid a great period of social change and yet they fail to develop the new attitudes, the new mental responses – that the new situation demands.
They end up sleeping through a revolution.
There can be no gainsaying of the fact that a great revolution is taking place in the world today. In a sense it is a triple revolution; that is a technological revolution, with the impact of automation and cybernation: then there is revolution in weaponry, with the emergence of atomic and nuclear weapons of warfare.
Then there is a human rights revolution. with the freedom explosion that is taking place all over the world. Yes, we do live in a period where changes are taking place and there is still the voice crying through the vista of time saying,
“ Behold, I make all things new, former things are passed away.”
Now whenever anything new comes into history it brings with it new challenges…and new opportunities. And I would like to deal with the challenges that we face today
as a result of this triple revolution that is taking place in the world today.
First we are challenged to develop a world perspective.
No individual can live alone, no nation can live alone, and anyone who feels that he can live alone is sleeping through a revolution. The world in which we live is geographically one.
The challenge that we face today is to make it one in terms of brotherhood.
Throughout scientific and technological genius, we have made of this world,
a neighborhood and yet..
We have not had the ethical commitment to make of it a brotherhood. But somehow, and in some way, We have got to do this. We must all learn to live together as brothers.
Or we will all perish together as fools.
We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.
And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
[‘Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution’ - Chapter 44 - A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., edited by James M. Washington]