Well, good morning, everyone. Wonderful to see you all here. It looks like it's a beautiful day outside. So I hope we'll be able to enjoy it. Can you hear me OK? Yes, good. So mostly what I want to do this morning is read you something from Dr. King. Just a few brief comments. I've been studying and teaching from Dr. King's works and writing for a very long time in the context of my Buddhist practice. Before that, I had the privilege of seeing him twice. I was at the 1963 March on Washington with my I was in. I think I was in.

[01:00]

Let's see. That was the summer of 10th grade, I believe. And I was there with all of my my close high school friends who were somewhat radical slash progressive. And we took we took the bus with a lot of other people down to Washington. I remember where I was standing while Dr. King was speaking. And then he also came and spoke at one of the synagogues in Great Neck. I think that was a year or so later. And so I did see him. And then kind of the pivotal event of my life, which was participation in the Columbia University strike in the spring of 1968, was the strike itself followed directly

[02:03]

on Dr. King's assassination. And so he figures in that early life of mine and then more in the last period, as I and many of us are wrestling with the state of our nation. So what I'm going to read to you today is from is a relatively late from a excerpt from relatively late talk by Dr. King. It was given in at the annual Southern Christian Leadership Convention in August of 1967, which also happens to be around the time that Berkley's End Center was founded. It's just that's just coincidental, but it struck my imagination. And the talk is entitled, Where Do We Go From Here? And it's featured in Dr. King's last book, which

[03:06]

is also titled, Where Do We Go From Here? And then the subtitle is Chaos or Community, which all of which seems quite on the mark. So Dr. King, this Dr. King is a relatively radical king. He's I regret that I have a dream has been reduced to a kind of just a feel good expression or motto and that Dr. King with his radical critique of this country and also of violence in the world, it's wonderful that he's honored by a national holiday

[04:08]

and that he I fear that he's sort of transformed into a postage stamp character, which is not who he is. And this country has this remarkable ability to create these iconic figures and to defang them or depower, disempower them in some way. And to me, it's mind boggling that there's also been a Malcolm X postage stamp. And there are other figures, a John Lennon postage stamp who was identified as an enemy of the state. So with that, I want to read you from Where Do We Go From Here? I'm concerned about a better world. I'm concerned about justice. I'm concerned about brotherhood. I'm concerned about truth.

[05:09]

And when one is concerned about that, one can never advocate violence. For through violence, you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence, you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence, you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out the darkness. Only light can do that. And I say to you, I have decided to stick with love. For I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems. And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it is impossible to talk about it in some circles today. And I'm not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love. I'm talking about a strong, demanding love. For I have seen too much hate.

[06:12]

I've seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I've seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen to want hate myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities. And I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. I want to say to you, as I move to my conclusion, as we talk about where do we go from here, that we must honestly face the fact that the movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. There are 40 million poor people here. And so this is 53 years ago.

[07:14]

There are 40 million poor people here. And one day we must ask the question, why are there 40 million poor people in America? And you are raising the question about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life's marketplace. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. And you see, my friends, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, who owns the oil? You begin to ask the question, who owns the iron ore? You begin to ask the question, why is it that people have to pay water bills

[08:18]

in a world that's two-thirds water? These are words that must be said. Now, don't think you have me in a bind today. I'm not talking about communism. What I'm talking about is far beyond communism. Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social. And the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor in the antithesis of capitalism, but in a higher synthesis. In a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both. Now, when I say questioning the whole society, it ultimately means coming to see the problem of racism, the problem of economic exploitation and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated.

[09:20]

So the problem of racism, economic exploitation and war. And if you will let me be a preacher just a little bit, one day, one night, a juror came to Jesus and he wanted to know what he could do to be saved. Jesus didn't get bogged down on an isolated approach of what you shouldn't do. Jesus didn't say, now, Nicodemus, you must stop lying. He didn't say, Nicodemus, now you must not commit adultery. He didn't say, Nicodemus, you must stop cheating if you're doing that. He didn't say, Nicodemus, you must stop drinking liquor if you're doing that. He said something altogether different, that if a man will lie, he will steal. And if a man will steal, he will kill. So instead of getting bogged down on one thing, Jesus looked at him and said, Nicodemus, you must be born again. In other words, your whole structure must be changed.

[10:28]

A nation that will keep people in slavery for 244 years will thingify them and make them things. And therefore, they will exploit them and poor people generally, economically. And a nation that will exploit economically will have to have foreign investments and everything else, and will have to use its military might to protect them. And all these problems are tied together. What I'm saying today is that we must go from this convention, the Southern Christian Leadership Convention, and say, America, you must be born again. And so I include by saying today that we have a task. Let us go out with a divine dissatisfaction. Let us be dissatisfied until America will no longer have a high blood pressure of creeds and anemia of deeds.

[11:29]

Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort from the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice. Let us be dissatisfied until those who live on the outskirts of hope are brought into the metropolis of daily security. Let us be dissatisfied until slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and every family will live in a decent sanitary home. Let us be dissatisfied until the dark yesterdays of segregated schools will be transformed into bright tomorrows of quality integrated education. Let us be dissatisfied until integration is not seen as a problem, but as an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity.

[12:30]

Let us be dissatisfied until men and women, however black they may be, will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not on the color of their skin. Let us be dissatisfied. Let us be dissatisfied until from every city hall, justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. Let us be dissatisfied and men will recognize, let us be dissatisfied and men will recognize that out of one blood, God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth. And I must confess, my friends, that the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there.

[13:32]

And there will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. We may, again, with tear-drenched eyes, have to stand before the beer of some courageous civil rights worker whose life will be snuffed out by the acts of bloodthirsty mobs. But difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future. When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil,

[14:35]

a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. So that's what I had to share with you today. And I think I will leave it at that. I don't think it needs any further comment from me, but perhaps we can talk about this in small groups. So Blake, are you organizing this? Okay, so thank you, I'll turn it over to you. Hosan, how many people do you think we should have in each breakout group? Or does it matter to you?

[15:40]

Let's say four. Okay, dope. All right, good people. Give me a second. Do you have any, taking up, do you have any prompts, verbal prompts or questions to ponder for these breakout rooms? I'm buying time. Right, that's fine. I think that it would be good to discuss how whatever it strikes you, how it impacts you and how it impacts others. And also think about how are any of these points, and I realize you don't have the text, how is any of this relevant to our situation today?

[16:42]

Particularly as we go into a transfer of power in this government. And also to recognize, I just want to say, because it's been pointed out to me, the undercurrents of oppression and inequality that we see in the present administration are not new. They're not something that just arose with Donald Trump. They flow through our nation's history in different ways. And what's our opportunity to reckon with and transform them? So those are just some first thoughts.

[17:47]

And you can talk freely and structure your discussion the way that you want. And we'll have group sharing at the end. It's not necessarily like report back and we don't need note takers. Just see what really arises for you in this sharing, in this material.

[18:08]

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