Abstract
I want to begin with a brief tableau, a description of a typical situation in the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. We are in a black church
somewhere in the Old South of the United States. Before adjourning, the people cross their arms in front of them, joining their hands to the hands of their neighbors on either side, while they sing:
God is on our side,
God is on our side,
God is on our side, today,
Oh, deep in my heart I do believe,
We shall overcome, someday.
The hour is late. The sanctuary is packed with people, singing, clapping, and swaying. These people marched today. There were ugly confrontations with angry crowds of whites, brutality from law enforcement officers, and many arrests. They were afraid earlier today, but here, singing together in the church, they are radiant.