The Rev. Bernice A. King is the youngest daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and echoes the passion and promise he voiced for America.

Speaking Monday, Jan. 21, at the annual service honoring Dr. King at the “spiritual home,” Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where he grew up and where his father had been pastor for more than four decades when he became co-pastor, Rev. King reminds us of the lessons taught by the “authentic King,” who would be 90 years old now, and guides our thinking toward how to respond in today’s world. 

Rev. King, who was 5 when her father died, is now 55 and CEO of The King Center in Atlanta.

Here are her words.

— Richmond Free Press editor

As we commemorate what would have been my father’s 90th birthday, I believe and declare that we are in a state of emergency. We are in state of emergency because of our humanitarian crisis, and it’s not at our southern borders. It is in our nation and many nations of the world. The concern and compassion for human welfare across the board is being threatened. 

In this nation and many nations around the world, we have witnessed the powerful resurgence of nationalistic and white supremacist ideologies that are perpetuating the dangerous, damning and destructive policies and practices against all of humanity.

My brothers and sisters, our humanity is literally on the verge of digressing to two Americas and becoming the dis-United States of America. This is a humanitarian crisis and we are in a state of emergency when people, including children, are seeking a better life and are tear-gassed and caged. This is a humanitarian crisis and we are in a state of emergency. When chilling displays of hate, discrimination, racism and indifference are lauded, and when black lives are endangered by calls to police for trivial, non-criminal matters, then this is a humanitarian crisis and we are in a state of emergency.

When prejudice and bigotry are emboldened by harmful rhetoric and policies spoken and supported by heads of nations, and xenophobia and Islamophobia rear their hateful heads, then this is a humanitarian crisis and we are in a state of emergency. When our schools continue to be unsafe spaces for learning because of impotent gun control laws, this is a humanitarian crisis and we are in a state of emergency.

When there are assaults on voter integrity and voter access in some of our democratic elections, this is a humanitarian crisis and we are in an emergency. 

When the right to protest, a fundamental right in a viable democracy, is challenged in America and some elected officials and citizens question what my father called the right to protest for rights, when economic injustice persists with many not receiving a living wage and the gender wage gap is not eliminated, this is a humanitarian crisis and we are in a state of emergency.

When the criminal justice system continues to fail people of color, and housing discrimination based on race and income source continue to be a barrier to affordable housing, and when extreme natural disasters, the results according to reputable scientists of climate change and our inattention to it, culminate in death and destruction, then this is a humanitarian crisis and we are in a state of emergency.

And when a government shutdown persists to the point that it affects the livelihood of individuals and those in need of dire, critical social services, then this is a humanitarian crisis and we are all in a state of emergency.

On this King holiday, I hear the authentic King raising the question, ‘Where do we go from here?’ We can either continue on this course of chaos or we can travel on the pathway toward true community.

In an emergency, there’s always a set of protocols. And since we are in a humanitarian emergency, protocol dictates that we look to our survival manual — the word of God, which proclaims that from one blood, God has made all nations to dwell on the face of the Earth. Or as it states in the MLK version, ‘We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. And I cannot be all that I ought be until you are all that you ought be. And you cannot be all you ought be until I am all that I ought be.’

The U.S. cannot be what it should be unless Mexico is what it ought be.

We can try to build a wall to physically separate ourselves. But walls do not negate our interconnectedness.

Brothers and sisters, what should people who are tied in a single garment of destiny do when they find themselves in an emergency? They stop operating on a ‘me’ plan and start operating on a ‘we’ plan because they accept and recognize their interconnectedness and begin engaging each other in a manner that reflects shared power, resources and dignity.

When we realize we are tied together in a single garment of destiny, we stop embracing a “cancel culture” whereby we dismiss those who think differently from us or fall short of our justice standard. We must remember that nonviolence as espoused by Dr. King seeks to defeat injustice and not people.

Now is the time to rise up above our individualistic concerns to the broad concerns of humanity. Let’s hand aside our fears and our false assumptions, and our implicit bias, our ignorances and our anger and our bitterness, and our apathy and our indifference that keeps us from living together as brothers and sisters and working together in a diligent and determined manner to rid our world house of inhumanity and unjust conditions.

We all, each one of us, have a role and responsibility. This is not somebody else’s problem or somebody else’s issue. These are our issues and our problems. We can no longer wait on an elected official or a faith leader or a civic leader. 

The authentic King took ownership of the problems during his time and accepted responsibility for his role in bringing about social change. He left his teachings and examples that each one of us can embrace and apply to the present social and political issues of our time.

The authentic King reminded us that human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle, the time, exertion and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

So why wait on somebody else when we can take ownership of the problems we see and step up to make a difference? Why wait when we have the capacity to work hand in hand with others to bring about needed change? When ... this King (National) Historical Park would not be open during the King holiday due to a government shutdown, Delta Airlines Foundation did not wait. They stepped up with a solution.

When residents no longer wanted to live on Confederate Avenue, they did not wait on city officials here in Atlanta. Instead, they organized and they collaborated to get the name changed to United Avenue.

In rural Livingston, Ala., parents in a segregated school system did not wait for a state mandate to desegregate the schools. They got together, black and white, and advocated for the first racially integrated school — University Charter School.

As we commemorate the 90th birthday of my father, we can no longer wait. In my father’s 1961 American Dream speech, he reminded us that the hour is late and the clock of destiny is ticking out. We must act now before it is too late.

It is trite but urgently true that if America is to remain a first-class nation, she can no longer have second-class citizens. The hour is late, America. The hour is late, my brothers and sisters. And if we want to stabilize and strengthen our nation and world, then we can no longer wait for another Martin Luther King Jr. It’s time for you to be a King.

We can no longer wait to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God while others are seeking to delay and deny justice because they are more devoted to order than justice. We can no longer wait ... Each of us can turn the tide by speaking with and to each other in ways that call each other up instead of calling each other out. We can no long wait to rid our world of poverty and racism and militarism while others are perpetuating an unjust, immoral status quo. If we really want to make real the promises of democracy, now is the time on this King holiday to stop quoting King out of context and misquoting him to suit our own purposes.

Brothers and sisters, it’s time to stop praising King with platitudes and pleasantries. Now is the time to start to embracing his vision of humanity tied in a single garment of destiny and start living our best lives. (Live) the authentic King.