Self-care for the beloved community
In 1963, at the height of segregation, Martin Luther King, Jr. called for creating the beloved community. He exhorted all Americans to stand for justice, not by eradicating our differences but by affirming and claiming our identity, heritage, and legacy.
His vision of the beloved community embraced principles of inclusion: sharing the rich resources of the earth; eliminating poverty, hunger, and homelessness; and combating racism and discrimination. At the heart of King’s vision was a reverence for caring for others and honoring the values of fairness and equality that arise from the gospel.
More than 50 years since King’s historic march on Washington, despite a massive multicultural following, his dream of the beloved community is far from realized. His famous speech on nonviolence reminds us that building the beloved community necessitates faith and requires a radical transformation in how we put our stated values into action.
