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One night, after another day of repeated threatening phone
calls, Martin Luther King couldn't sleep. It seemed as if
all his fears came down on him. “I was frustrated,
bewildered, (…). I tried to think of a way to move
out of the picture without appearing a coward.” Sitting
in the kitchen, with his head in his hands, he prayed aloud.
"Lord, I'm down here trying to do what is right. I
think I'm right. I am here taking a stand for what I believe
is right. But Lord, I must confess that I'm weak now, I'm
faltering. I'm losing my courage. (…) The people are
looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them
without strength and courage, they too will falter. I am
at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I've come
to the point where I can't face it alone." Then Martin
experienced a spiritual presence and heard an inner voice:
"Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up
for justice. Stand up for truth. And I will be with you.
Even until the end of the world." As at once, his fears
left him and his uncertainty disappeared, “I was ready
to face anything”.
A few months before, King had been called by his fellow
pastors to a perilous leadership position and he had accepted
despite the danger. With extraordinary persistence and determination
he helped African-Americans change the American society.
He led them to find courage and to believe in non-violent
actions for freedom. His leadership and eloquence made him
one of the most effective and respected civil right leaders
of the American history. But King was not only a leader
driven by a desperate need for Black people to gain self-respect
and dignity, he was also a dreadful opponent mantled in
the appearance of a peaceful pilgrim. His unceasing struggle
and his original strategy were shaped by four major influences:
Ghandi's concept of satyagrapha or true force; the Bible’s
teachings on love; Reinhold Niebuhr's concept of social
evil and Hegel's dialectic. To the eyes of the world, he
exposed America’s racism and ultimately gained the
support of the white majority and the intervention of the
federal government.
The Civil Rights Movement unquestionably propelled Martin
in his leadership position, but the Movement gained tremendous
momentum and achievements through his leadership. Carried
by forces beyond his control, his fame grew internationally.
He assuredly was not perfect and at one point his personal
life became reckless. But, day after day, his leadership
abilities expanded enabling him to achieve his purpose.
His life and leadership are a source of inspiration for
organizational executives, managers and employees, groups
and teams because, behind the legend, there is as a man,
a simple man who accepted a responsibility, a terrible mission
heeded upon him. Confronted to a crushing challenge, he
quickly became aware of his limits and inabilities. So he
learned to depend on God and continued despite oppositions
and sometimes flagrant failures. King was not born natural
leaders, as a child, he was introverted and shy. But he
became more and more was hungry for justice. Driven by a
deep sens of dignity, he searched and found a method to
overpower injustice in the American society and realize
his goals.
King became a mainstream martyr of the Black consciousness.
Shortly before his death, he had resolved to wholeheartedly
and uncompromisingly follow his conscience proclaiming that
the time had came for real prophesy. He fought with a wider
and more integral conception of justice against war, poverty
and racial injustice. He went to the point of declaring
his own government “the greatest purveyor of violence
in the world today." In 1968, Martin died in his blood,
shot in the neck on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine
Motel.
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CHOSEN LEADERS AND THEIR RESEARCHERS
