MLK and Chávez: messengers of social justice for the ages

This April, we observe two anniversaries with an interesting coincidence. Today marks 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination at age 39, and April 23 marks 25 years since César Chávez died at age 66.

This twin commemoration calls us to reflect on the common call-to-action of these two great leaders who were in touch with and shared a common view of militant nonviolent action for social justice.

Their message today, no doubt, would be not to slack off, no matter how difficult, frustrating or improbable the struggle may seem and not to leave behind the tool of militant nonviolent action that they used so effectively for justice and passed on to us. Nonviolent action must be a way of life, not just a tactic or strategy.

The Parkland students have shown us most recently that, if for every violent act committed against persons, they respond with nonviolence, they attract others’ support. They can gather the support of millions who have a conscience and want a nonviolent resolution of injustice and social problems.

In his speech honoring the 10th anniversary of King’s death, Chávez said, “We are convinced that, when people are faced with a direct appeal from individuals struggling nonviolently against great odds, they will react positively. The American people and people everywhere still yearn for justice. It is to that yearning that we appeal.”

It bears remembering that both King and Chávez were organizing against economic injustice. In fact, King was preparing the Poor People’s March on Washington when he was killed. This is important to emphasize because, in a sense, it is easier to struggle against segregated theater, bathrooms and facility entrances than to address economic disparities, criminal justice, poverty or gender discrimination. These latter inequities are tightly woven into the fabric of our society and extremely difficult to unravel. But unravel them we must.

As King’s famous 1966 telegram to Chávez put it, “The fight for equality must be fought on many fronts — in the urban slums, in the sweat shops of the factories and fields. Our separate struggles are really one — a struggle for freedom, for dignity and for humanity … for righting grievous wrongs …”

Rather than yielding to the dark forces that seem ever higher on the horizon these days, we must join our colleagues’ demonstrations and marches, strikes and boycotts for whatever cause, not just to the ones that appeal most to us. These are our only weapons against injustice and how we bring dignity and honor to those movements and our community.

We have to push back against those who promote rugged individualism over community, who aggrandize wealth on the backs of others, and who exploit immigrants, women and people of color for political and economic gain. The list is long and complicated, but we can at least do as much as those who went before us to make our life on the planet more than just how they found it. We owe the same to our grandchildren and those who follow after us.

Something else we can do is help raise up leaders. Neither Chávez nor King descended from heaven. Their families, friends and colleagues help shaped them, sometimes with corrective actions and by cajoling, so that they became who they did. We, too, can help shape and support those around us to become fellow travelers for justice.

Perhaps in this year’s twin commemoration we will hear King and Chávez speaking to us in the words of the 1966 telegram: “We are together with you in spirit and in determination that our dreams for a better tomorrow will be realized.” And they would certainly add, “Get out there, demonstrate, and organize!” Change and justice will not come in any other way; change and justice are not granted from on high, but won only with struggle.

Harrington is founder and director emeritus of the Texas Civil Rights Director. He served as César Chávez’s Texas counsel for 18 years.