Jan 19 2009 ABC-Nightline
‘From Ceremony to Sacrament’

The president-elect called on the nation to honor King today by acts of service, but Lowery said that alone is not enough.

“I don’t want us to stop there,” he said. “We do a disservice to Martin if we simply see him as an agent of social service. He was that, but he was also an agent of social change. And it’s nice to help old ladies cross the street in memory of Martin, but to complete the task let’s see if the streets are paved where she lives, in the poor neighborhood. Martin would be very concerned about that, to see if her Social Security and her health care are in order and adequate.”

 “I think social change must not be left out of celebrating Martin Luther King’s birthday. He was not a glorified social worker. He was a non-violent militant, a Christian activist. Martin would not be happy if we honor the missionary and dishonor the mission.”
Tribune Jan 19 2009