"Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals."
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
FORT SILL, Okla. Jan. 15, 2016 -- Protest can take many forms, from boycotting a product or business, to civil disobedience, to armed revolution. As both a student of history and a man of the cloth, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. felt compelled to protest racial inequality in a way that would honor Jesus, the Prince of Peace, while confronting the evil he hoped to transform.
Taking the essays of Thoreau on civil disobedience, and the actions and teachings of Gandhi, he developed a philosophy of the beloved community, where enemies would be redeemed and justice magnified. So strongly did he believe in nonviolence that he did not allow armed guards to protect him, even though his home had been bombed and death threats were a common occurrence.
He spoke often of loving one's enemies, influenced both by the Bible and Gandhi's concept of Satyagraha, or love force. Love in the face of suffering had power to transform evil, King believed. He said, "Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding."
In his "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail," Dr. King wrote that the activists went through a process of self-purification to prepare for the ordeals of the protest. "We started having workshops on nonviolence and repeatedly asked ourselves the questions, 'Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?' 'Are you able to endure the ordeals of jail?'"
Not only did he accept the physical suffering, he also believed in accepting the consequences of civil disobedience. He was jailed many times, as were other activists. " (I)f he refuses to accept the penalty, then he becomes reckless, and he becomes an anarchist."
King distinguished between just laws, which were morally enlightened, and unjust laws, which sought to subjugate. "One who breaks an unjust law must do it openly, lovingly and with willingness to accept the penalty."
King knew that when the response to peaceful protest was violent, it would offend the consciences of good people and galvanize the public to advocate for change. The new medium of television emphasized, in ways print media could not, the awful brutality of police clubs beating young men, old women and children. People of goodwill needed to experience the reality of being black in the South, and those on the front lines offered to make the necessary sacrifice, much as Jesus had done.
"Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue," wrote King from his jail cell. "It seeks to so dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood."
In the letter, he also admonished black nationalist groups which leaned toward violence to choose the path of nonviolence and love. He responded to criticisms by white ministers and rabbis that he was an extremist by saying, Jesus, too, was an extremist. "Was not Jesus an extremist in love? 'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.'"
And as did the Prince of Peace, he knew he might pay the ultimate price for his crusade for justice, one which he did not want repaid with violence in his name.
Editor's note: in 2012, Cindy McIntyre served as an interpretive park ranger for Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta.
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