Program Director’s Notes - On Courage (A Martin Luther King Day Message)
Courage and cowardice are antithetical. Courage is an inner resolution to go forward in spite of obstacles and frightening situations; cowardice is a submissive surrender to circumstance…Courage faces fear and thereby masters it; cowardice represses fear and is thereby mastered by it.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hi everyone,
I remember the day Martin Luther King died. It was April 1968, I’d just turned five, and my mom or dad said, “They shot him.” I didn’t know who Dr. King was or why “they” would kill him, but I did absorb the intimation of inevitability, that his enemies finally got him.
Dr. King fought for racial and social justice during a tumultuous era, not unlike today. America was divided on civil rights, the Vietnam War, and shifting mores. King faced repeated death threats. In 1956, his home was bombed with his wife and infant daughter inside. In a speech on the eve of his assassination, he acknowledged both his vulnerability and faith in his work:
I’ve been to the mountaintop…I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.
In the decades since King’s murder, it’s become too easy to assume the success of his courageous fight, as if the struggle against racism was broadly supported and the outcome pre-ordained. As if Americans truly believed in the self-evident truth that we are all created equal.
It’s also become too easy to conclude, as many have, that King’s work was finished, that the Promised Land was reached. But the daily mayhem that bombards our TVs and social media feeds disavows that myth, both abroad and at home.
I’m inspired by those who honor Dr. King by transcending fear in the name of justice. But isn’t that what courage demands? That we show our faces? That we add our names? That we keep working, even when the cause is unpopular and the odds long?
We physicians honor Dr. King’s legacy when we respect patients’ dignity, whatever their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or immigration status. We honor his legacy by supporting universal healthcare and speaking about the dangers of climate change, high drug prices, housing instability, food deserts, medical misinformation, loss of funding for science, and restrictions on medical care for women and LGBTQ people. And we honor his legacy by recognizing that the primary victims of injustice are always and inevitably the poor and marginalized.
Dr. King taught that courage is sustained by dedicating our lives to creating a beloved community, where human dignity is respected, fundamental rights upheld, and all humans can flourish. Let us honor his memory in the way we care for our patients, support our community, and lift our voices, with clarity, compassion, and courage.
Enjoy your Sunday, everyone. I’m going to brave the cold and snow and climb East Rock,
Mark
P.S. What I am reading and watching:
MLK’s ‘Beloved Community’ Has Inspired Social Justice Work For Decades By Jason Oliver Evans
I’ve been meeting with CT’s homeless. Here’s what I learned By Saud Anwar (The uncle of our very own Eman Mubarak!)
They Were Ordinary Germans. We Are Ordinary Americans. By Shalom Auslander
The End of Fear in Iran By Abbas Milani
An Old Theory Helps Explain What Happened to Renee Good By David French
Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King, Jr.
Strength to Love By Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Have a Dream Speech By Martin Luther King, Jr.
