Trump must join us all in embracing King’s dream

By Ralph Williamson

Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017 | 2 a.m.

This week presents us with great irony: observing the birth of the youngest person to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts a half-century ago to sow love and empathy among and for all people, regardless of their race, and the inauguration of a president who, in his quest for the White House, sowed divisiveness, distrust and discord among those same people. The marked contrast between these two men should prompt us to look seriously at our past, present and future.

Where is our nation headed?

In light of the crime and social and economic challenges burdening our communities, hatred, bigotry and racism are as real today as ever. In “The Risks of Faith,” James Cone writes, “New times require new concepts and methods. To dream is not enough. We must come down from the mountaintop and experience the hurt and pain of the people in the valley.”

Indeed, the hopelessness within our community — whether spawned by economic or social injustices — offers great opportunity for the larger community of people from every segment of life to work together in addressing joblessness, homelessness, drugs and crime. We must find ways to inspire individuals within the community to pitch in and to instill the kind of hope that will bring both healing and transformation. In other words, it’s time to get real, to walk the talk.

So where do we go from here? How do we deal with the challenges we face? How do we confront the social injustices we encounter? How can we promise a better future — I embrace optimism over pessimism — when a person who denigrates others and uses his voice to threaten and intimidate those who do not think or agree with his agenda is about to be sworn in as president of the United States?

Yes, I worry about the future of social justice. We are called as decent people to extend help to the poor and indigent, the voiceless and marginalized, but I don’t sense that is on the agenda of the incoming president who professes to want to “Make America Great Again.” Great for whom?

I can’t help but wonder what the future will look like when those who will write policies and control virtually every aspect of our government are overwhelmingly wealthy and insensitive to the needs of those on the low rungs of society and women who should be allowed the right to choose and make decisions that impact their lives.

Similarly, I cannot help but wonder what new immigration laws will look like and how just the criminal justice system will be over the next four years when there is already injustice in how people of color are charged, sentenced and convicted. How will average Americans fit in when there is already a disparity of wealth that is sure to grow? What will our future look like when policies that were written in our past to be inclusive will soon be overturned? What will our future, our nation and the world look like when we put more trust in Russia and WikiLeaks than our own intelligence agencies?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose life as a peacemaker we commemorate Monday, understood the value of building the spiritual soul of humankind while uniting people in a common cause. King spoke about a religion that “seeks not only to reconcile men with God, but to reconcile men with men and each man with himself.” He understood that “any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a dry-as-dust religion.” And a religion that is dry does not, cannot, nor will ever have the power to transform barren, lifeless or dead places, relationships or experiences into places that live.

We must work together as one people, under God, where there is liberty and justice for all. We must work within a framework of shared values and principles toward goals that touch the heart and soul of our community and spawn solutions that will address social, economic and political issues that ultimately touch us all.

And we can all pray that the president-elect will join us.

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On Monday, the nation commemorates the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., prompting the question of whether and how well his dream for peace is being nurtured — or stymied — in Clark County. A diverse panel of community members — religious and not — will explore King’s local legacy from 3 to 5 p.m. today at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church at 2446 Revere St., North Las Vegas. The event, free and open to the public, will include discussion with the audience and entertainment.

The Rev. Ralph Williamson is pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in North Las Vegas.