Martin Luther King did not struggle to have a holiday
named
for him, but for a caring, compassionate, just society," said Dr. Allan Boesak,
the keynote speaker at Oberlin's annual Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Commemorative
Service. His words rang through Warner Concert Hall February 1 as his
lecture
opened the College's observance of Black History Month.
Boesak, an anti-apartheid leader and a major figure in the fight to free Nelson Mandela, called King a "decisive influence" in his own life as well as in the lives of countless others in South Africa. King's example inspired them to "stand up in South Africa for what was right and just" in the face of violent opposition, Boesak said. And stand up they did.
Boesak first heard the voice of King in March of 1963. He was at a camp meeting when someone smuggled in a recording of the civil rights leader's speeches, words that were banned by the South African government. He heard, and then memorized King's speech "Sleeping Through a Revolution." It changed his life. Boesak knew that he would find it "impossible to live while injustice was carried out-to just stand by and watch the struggles of others."
Boesak said he is saddened to see children in America "who are not inspired by King's memory and who do not even know how to write his name." "The shame of this falls on the parents, who should never allow the memory and the meaning of his message to fade-this man for whom a holiday is named," he said.
Boesak was born in Kakamas, South Africa, in 1946. He attended theological seminary at the University of the Western Cape, where he was the youngest graduate ever in 1967, and pursued advanced theological studies in Europe and the United States. He returned to South Africa in 1976 and became actively involved in the struggle against apartheid. In 1983, he joined others to form the United Democratic Front, the second largest anti-apartheid coalition in South Africa and one of the major forces struggling against apartheid from within the country. He was detained by the South African government on charges of subversion in 1985, stemming from a planned march on Pollsmore Prison to demand the release of Nelson Mandela. Although he was later released, he was under constant surveillance.
After the breakdown of the apartheid state, Boesak served as a leader of the African National Congress in the Western Cape. He became a member of the Commission on Global Governance, an independent, international group studying the United Nations, in 1992. Currently he is theologian-in-residence at Stony Point Conference Center in New York.
From Martin Luther King, Boesak learned the importance of the "universal bond" between all people, which makes it "impossible to isolate oneself from the struggles of the rest of the world." King knew "that love is not sentimental, nor shallow, nor weak, but a power to transform the society in which we live."
Boesak shares King's belief in non-violence, which he believes must "become more than just a strategy in a specific struggle, but a way of life. Without resistance, the vicious cycle of violence will ultimately destroy the world in which we live, after it has destroyed our very personhood."
From King's struggles, Boesak said he learned that "if you do not have the courage to tackle the problems in the world, then you do not have the courage to tackle the problems from within." In the struggle for human dignity, he said, "you have wounds because there is something to fight for. You must not be afraid to be wounded."
-by Anita Buckmaster '95