Dr. Vincent Harding

26 March is a day that will forever stay in my mind and in my heart. This day we got to take part in an intimate (as intimate as skype can get) skype interview with Dr. Vincent Harding, speech writer and personal friend of Martin Luther King Jr. This man took part of the Freedom movement (civil rights movement) from its early days and is still fighting for peace, freedom and justice in the world. Words cannot desribe what an honour it is to have been a part of this.

The interview was at 4.30 am so most of us stayed up the whole night. We watched two films about the freedom movement and about the controversial speech Dr. King held at Riverside Church concerning the Vietnam War; the speech Dr. Harding wrote.

Soundtrack for a Revolution Trailer

worth watching!

What really hit me about the films and the interview was the love, compassion and courage of the movement and Dr. Harding. It is incredibly brave and strong to remain non-violent and loving in the face of brutality and hate. I feel extremely frustrated by apathy, ignorance and evil but frustration, anger and violence will not bring about peace, love and freedom. If we want the world to be a peaceful and sustainable place we have to lead by example and that means finding that inner place of love; even and especially for our enemy. You cannot create real change with hatred and brutality. But , we can create change. We can live in the world of our vision. However, the world is not going to change by itself, it takes active global citizenship. The system we live in is a social contruction that can be de-constructed and re-constructed to fit the needs of the entire world.

Finally, I want to shout out to Jarrod McKenna and his family for the fantastic work they are doing for both the local and global community.