Martin Luther King III: Achievements of Turkey to rest on what youth do

[rick murphy]

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Martin Luther King III: Achievements of Turkey to rest on what youth
do

Picture: Martin Luther King III (Photo: Today's Zaman, Turgut Engin)

5 May 2013 /YONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN, İSTANBUL

Turkey's achievements will be directly related to the strides of its
young population, and it can be effective if those strides are
accomplished in a non-violent way, according to this week's guest for
Monday Talk.

“This is an important country for sustaining and maintaining peace,
especially at this time when conflict exists in some surrounding
countries, mainly in Syria. Whatever Turkey achieves is based on what
the young people choose to do,” said Martin Luther King III, oldest
son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an American human rights
advocate and community activist.

King and his organization, Communities Without Boundaries
International (CWBI), were in İstanbul last week engaging in a number
of peace-building activities with local partners.

Among CWBI's activities was a talk titled “The Legacy of MLK and the
Role of Non-violence in the 21st Century” at Şehir University on May
2.

“The techniques that my father used brought the United States almost
to a standstill without using a bomb or a gun. It can be done, but it
takes strategy and patience. It also takes exposure to different
techniques and ideas that they have not been exposed to before. That's
part of what we do, non-violent resolution training,” he said in our
interview.

King has been speaking with Turkish officials about whether CWBI can
be helpful in resolving some disputes in Turkey in a non-violent way.
On this and more, he elaborated on the issues.

You have a message for youth in İstanbul. Would you tell us about it?

İstanbul has a bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. This community is a
community for building bridges, and a bridge gets you from one point
to the other; a bridge connects people. One of the things about Turkey
is quite phenomenal; it's about where it is regionally located in the
world. This is an important country for sustaining and maintaining
peace, especially at this time when conflict exists in some
surrounding countries, mainly in Syria. Whatever Turkey achieves is
based on what the young people choose to do. Most movements around the
world have been started or sustained by young people. What I always
hope that whatever progress occurs, it should be done in a non-violent
way. I come from a non-violent tradition; my father was one of the
most pre-eminent leaders of non-violence and at the age of 35 was the
youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 as one of
the youngest leaders of the civil rights movement. His work and
teachings helped transform America in a wonderful way. And non-
violence techniques can be used anywhere in the world, be it in South
America or Africa where conflict may occur. I believe that change can
occur in a non-violent way.

You have programs around the world for building bridges, and you work
with young people a lot. Have you had success using teachings of non-
violence?

Yes, we do, but it's not enough. What ends up happening is that the
negative things that are occurring in the societies take the lead in
the news. There are probably far more positive things that are
happening, but they don't get reported because they are not
controversial. What we try to show young people is that there is an
alternative way, that you don't have to use violence to bring about
change. You can in fact bring about change by dialogue. The techniques
that my father used brought the United States almost to a standstill
without using a bomb or a gun. It can be done, but it takes strategy
and patience. It also takes exposure to different techniques and ideas
that they have not been exposed to before. That's part of what we do,
non-violent resolution training, indeed that is what we are currently
doing in Turkey.

‘There must be people who feel oppressed, left out in regards to the
Kurdish conflict'
You did not have any programs in Turkey before, right?

No, this is the first time. We have been meeting with high-level
governing folks, so we might have prospects of coming back. We are
saying that we would like to be a part of an effort to foster peace-
building in this part of the world.

How much awareness do you have about Turkey's peace process involving
the Kurds in regards to its long-lasting Kurdish problem? There has
also been a connection to Martin Luther King, Jr., regarding Kurds,
who did not have a Martin Luther King of their own to advocate non-
violence.

I certainly am aware of the issues. I do need to study a little more
to foster a point of view. I'm also aware that one of the biggest
problems of the country is the fact that there have been refugees
coming over from Syria. Any time a large number of people come in a
refugee status, they have to be educated and taken care of. There are
probably a number of issues that have to be managed. I don't think I
can come into the country and say that this is Martin Luther King and
this is what you should do. This is not appropriate. But I do think
that I can talk about how to bring people together from every genre,
from every ethnic group. I am sure there are people who feel oppressed
and left out in regards to the Kurdish conflict. There should be a
climate where everyone can live together without feeling mistreated.

You spoke on behalf of the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nominee,
Senator Barack Obama, at the Democratic National Convention on Aug.
28. That day also marked the 45th anniversary of the “I Have a Dream”
speech. Now President Obama is in his second term; do you think
expectations of African-Americans have been fulfilled?

The jury is still out in terms of whether or not he is fulfilling the
expectations of the African-American community. In the first four
years, people did not necessarily push, they wanted to see more and
they did not really push. In his second term, there will be a push
back from the African-American community if certain milestones do not
appear to be met. There is talk in the community about the lack of an
agenda that impacts the African-American community. Other communities
have been able to get their issues addressed, but President Obama has
not focused on African-American issues. He is certainly working to do
that. He has sessions with African-American leaders, too. There is an
attempt to address some of the issues that really impact the African-
American community. Whether in relationship to health or employment,
African-Americans have higher than average rates of negative effects.
That's why there is a desire for the African-American issues to be
addressed. President Obama is trying, but I can't say whether or not
structured policies are put in place.

‘African-Americans await expectations to be met by Obama'
What are the top issues concerning African-Americans?

Poverty, health and education are very important. If you are educated
at the appropriate level, then you'll probably be able to find a
decent job, and then probably not relegated to poverty. When young
African-Americans drop out of school, then there are no jobs for them.
In the past, they could go to manufacturing jobs, but now
manufacturing is changing because of technology. There are big
challenges. This year is the 50th anniversary of the March on
Washington. The March on Washington was where my father delivered his
“I Have a Dream” speech in 1953, and there will be a major
demonstration that will focus on some of these issues; for example,
immigration, poverty and education. The health issue is probably going
to be addressed. Because the Congress and the president passed the
health-care initiative that will go into effect next year, everyone
will have health insurance; that's a huge step.

A real big step if it can be implemented.

There are still some members of Congress trying to dismantle it, but I
don't think they are going to have success.

Speaking about African-American issues and the education problems of
youth, President Obama's elections must have had a huge impact.

Yes, no question. If he was of another ethnic persuasion, then there
would have been a lot of protest. But because he is an African-
American, African-Americans feel a sense of pride that an African-
American is the president of the United States. But they also want the
president to ensure that some things are done to help lift up the
African-American community. So far, that has not become a reality.

As an African-American who has experienced all sides of being an
African-American, were you expecting the American people would elect
an African-American?

The answer is that when he first began his journey to run for office,
I did not expect it. After he went a few primaries, I started feeling
that it was very possible that he could become the nominee and also he
could become the president. I always thought that we would have an
African-American president at some point. In fact, my father and
Robert Kennedy had predicted that we would have an African-American
president probably about 10 years before President Obama was elected.
It did not happen then, but it has happened now. It says something
about America on one hand that America has come together and elected a
person not because he is African-American, but he was the best
candidate who happened to be an African-American. It also has brought
up the vestiges of race. Some of the things that happened to President
Obama happened because of the color of his skin.


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‘Israelis and Palestinians were tired of fighting'
Would you give us examples of your work in the world?

When we were in Israel a few years ago, we were making great strides.
We found that most people, Israelis and Palestinians, were tired of
fighting. They really just wanted to be able to get along and be able
to raise their families, make a decent living. But there is an element
of leadership, on the Israeli side as well as the Palestinian side,
that sees it advantageous to keep the fighting going on. And those are
the folks that are in charge by and large, but it goes against the
people. What we were not able to do was to bring Israelis and
Palestinians into one group. That's what we wanted to do. We still
continue that work. It's a continuous process. I see light at the end
of the tunnel. There are several other places where we work. One is
Sri Lanka. When you have a war mentality, you have to change that
orientation. When you are in the same war mentality, you cannot trust
anyone.


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Realizing the Dream
You have non-profit organizations working not only in the United
States but outside as well. Would you tell us about your involvement
in international projects?

I've been working outside of the United States since 2006. I had an
organization called Realizing the Dream, and we went into Israel and
Ramallah; we went to Bosnia, Serbia; we went to South Africa and Kenya
and Sri Lanka and India. In each one of these areas we have been able
to carry the message of my dad because I believe his message is a
global message and resonates all over the world. He was teaching us
how to coexist without doing harm to our fellow human beings. We can
do this. This is what I share as I travel around the world. No matter
what the conflict is, many people can relate to this message. We talk
about few people using non-violence; we talk about Gandhi, Martin
Luther King, and there are few others. But every time you think about
great civilizations, you think about their military power. We say that
there should be a new paradigm. We can advance using non-violence. We
know that from the civil rights movement. Gandhi knew it because of
what he did in India. All people have to do is to look at examples,
incorporate them and change will come.


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‘Police violence disappointing on May 1'
You came to İstanbul at an interesting time, May 1, when
demonstrations were not peaceful and police brutality was obvious.
Have you had a chance to observe what's going on?

I have not had an opportunity to analyze what happened. We were at the
hotel most of the time and could not go anywhere; the streets were
blocked off. I saw on television police throwing gas bombs. That was
very unfortunate. It is, of course, very disappointing to see violence
by police. I don't want to cast judgment without understanding issues
more. It would be counterproductive. But I can if I come back.

Are you planning on coming back?

Certainly, if we work out plans with the Turkish officials.


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PROFILE
Martin Luther King III

The oldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta
Scott King, Martin Luther King III is carrying the torch lit by both
of his parents into the 21st century. He is an American human rights
advocate and community activist.

A graduate of his father's alma mater, Morehouse College, with a B.A.
in political science in 1979, King was elected to political office in
1986 as an at-large representative of more than 700,000 residents of
Fulton County, Georgia. As a member of the Board of Commissioners, he
was instrumental in securing strong ethics legislation, purification
of the county's natural water resources, legislation regulating
minority business participation in public contracting and stringent
hazardous waste disposal requirements.

In 2006, King founded an organization called Realizing the Dream,
which has been absorbed into The King Center, with King as president.
On Sept. 19, 2010, King received the Ramakrishna Bajaj Memorial Global
Award for outstanding contributions to the promotion of human rights
at the 26th Anniversary Global Awards of the Priyadarshni Academy in
Mumbai, India.

On April 4, 2011, the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of his
father, King helped to lead nationwide demonstrations against
initiatives to eliminate and undermine collective bargaining rights of
public workers in Wisconsin and other states.