Remember that Dr. King stood for nonviolence

Today, as we mark the 47th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he stood on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel, it seems like a good time to reflect on a portion of his last speech — the “Mountaintop” speech — the night before at Mason Temple.

On a stormy spring night, common this time of year in Memphis, King spoke in support of the Memphis sanitation workers, who were striking for better pay and working conditions, and for economic justice across the United States. He also said:

“And another reason that I’m happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we are going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn’t force them to do it.

“Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it’s nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today.”

Those are good words to remember as some members of Congress oppose a tentative nuclear deal that the Obama administration worked out with Iran, sectarian violence permeating the Middle East and various parts of Africa and Ukrainian troops battling Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east.

Closer to home, The Commercial Appeal has been full of news stories this week about people being killed or seriously injured by assailants who resorted to violence to settlement disputes. In Memphis, at least, we have been forced to find effective ways to grapple with violence beyond just talking about it.

King was about economic justice, which is why he decided to come to Memphis to help the sanitation workers. He had planned to use his efforts in Memphis as a prelude to a planned Poor People’s march on Washington. He also was about peace and nonviolence — a point he reiterated in his last speech.

Memphis has its share of violence. There were 168 homicides in the Bluff City last year; 144 were determined to be criminal homicides while 24 were ruled justifiable. In 2013, the city recorded 150 homicides: 129 criminal and 21 justifiable.

The 2014 numbers show an increase of 12 percent in total homicides and a 11.6 percent in criminal homicides.

If it was not for the historic efforts by the staff at the Regional Medical Center’s Elvis Presley Trauma Center, those homicide numbers likely would be higher.

Most of the victims and their assailants knew each other, and many of the slayings could have been avoided if someone had the fortitude and good sense to walk away.

The good news on this front is that members of the community have coalesced to attack violence at its roots, initiating a host of programs to prevent youngsters from growing up to become violent criminals. The programs include working with the parents of young children.

The violence that we report every day tears at the fabric of the entire community, not just the neighborhoods permeated by violence.

It makes those communities almost unlivable and sparks fear among residents living in neighborhoods that seldom, if ever, experience violent incidents.

Still, Memphians should take comfort in knowing the community is grappling with the issue in concrete ways.