Thread by @BerniceKing

In the summer of 1968, shortly after my father, #MLK, was assassinated, my mother, #CorettaScottKing, addressed @Harvard’s Class of 68. Her words concerning student/youth activism are powerful and relevant. Sharing excerpts from her message in this thread:

“In a power-drunk world, where means become ends, and violence becomes a favorite pastime, we are swiftly moving toward self-annihilation. Your generation must speak out with righteous indignation against the forces which are seeking to destroy us.” #CorettaScottKing

Wow, #CorettaScottKing! ⤵️

“It is a totally novel development and a paradoxical one that students, most of whom have no vote, emerge as a formidable political force for progressive change.” #CorettaScottKing

“Along with classes and races and conventional pressure groups, generations are now useful and appropriate categories of historical action and understanding.” #CorettaScottKing

“Indeed, the enthusiasm of students in a political cause is a vestment of its legitimacy and honesty.” #CorettaScottKing

“The political scene in our country has never been so marked by student action, and it is not reckless to predict that this is no aberrant phenomenon but a fundamental shift in social patterns that will distinguish this era from others past.” #CorettaScottKing

“The student protest is a demand for decent human values and individual expression...Each one of us is being called to help save our society and the world from destruction.” #CorettaScottKing

“I say, with all due respect to the office of the President of the United States, that even intense prayer and a new commission of notables, will not ease the violence in our lives.” #CorettaScottKing 👑

”This no time for business as usual, and strengthening the police is business as usual - a tried and false answer.” #CorettaScottKing

“There is reason to hope and to struggle if young people continue to hold high the banner of freedom.” #CorettaScottKing

“I am a religious person in the most unqualified sense of the word but I will say emphatically that there is more moral vitality and honest searching for values of life animating the campuses today than can be found in our churches.” #CorettaScottKing

“The world is in dire need of a spiritual awakening which will make those eternal values of love, justice, mercy and peace meaningful in our time.” #CorettaScottKing

“Finally, in struggling to give meaning to your own lives, as students you are preserving the best in our traditions and are breaking new ground in your restless search for truth. With this creative force to inspire all of us we may yet not only survive - we may triumph.” #CSK