Truth Requires Responsibility:
The M. L. King, Jr. & J. W. Howe Social Justice Connection
by Philip J. Rogers. D.M.A.
As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke to a crowd at Mason Temple Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tennessee on the night prior to his death, he, whether knowingly or unknowingly, emphatically quoted the words of another prominent social justice advocate, Julia Ward Howe written 106 years earlier – “Mine eyes have seen the glory… of the coming of the Lord.”
Below are several interesting biographical details regarding Julia Ward Howe:
“Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), little known today except as author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” was famous in her lifetime as poet, essayist, lecturer, reformer and biographer. She worked to end slavery, helped to initiate the women’s movement in many states, and organized for international peace. [juliawardhowe.org]
“Mourning the death of her father in 1839, she turned to the religion of her upbringing, though her reading had exposed her to more liberal ideas. Later she wrote, ‘I studied my way out of all the mental agonies which Calvinism can engender and became a Unitarian’ ” by 1841. [Dictionary of Unitarian Universalist Biography]
It was in 1862 that Julia published the poem The Battle Hymn of the Republic during which time her husband, Sam became a vice president of The Emancipation League and helped to organize the Freedmen’s Inquiry
Commission. [Wikipedia]
“Julia became … involved in the [social] reform movement and supported issues like abolition, women’s rights, prison reform and education. She developed close friendships with members of the Boston intellectual elite — William Ellery Channing, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and Theodore
Parker” a Unitarian minister who was one of the funders of John Brown’s
raid on Harper’s Ferry. [juliawardhowe.org]
NOTE: In last week’s UUverse article I misspoke regarding John Brown being killed at Harper’s Ferry. He was captured there and executed two months later.
The varied socio-political and personal truths that 2020 forced us to
observe without question epitomize the power of “Truth” that marches on
yet today in the first month of 2021. Martin Luther King, Jr. realized the
power of Truth in his ministry and social justice activism just as Julia Ward
Howe realized despite her inherited family wealth, popularity and white
privilege. Both were determined seekers of a society based on genuine love
and fairness among human beings regardless of class, race or cultural origin.
20/20 was a metaphor for clarity or sharpness of vision. God and/or the
Universe has forced us to see our nation, the world…and ourselves… clearly
and without excuses. It is up to us, therefore, to proceed responsibly with
heightened acts of love for social justice.
-Julia Ward Howe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYksOW83XzQ
–The Battle Hymn of the Republic performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
and Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSiVjlknuSw
In the depth of Winter lies the hope of Spring and the Pagan Wheel of the Year turns to celebrate this phenomenon with Imbolc. Please join NWUUC Hawk’s Hoop CUUPS to celebrate Imbolc with a virtual ritual Sunday, January 31 at 12pm. 
The NWUUC Book Groupies will be meeting Tuesday, Feb. 2nd at 7 pm on Zoom to discuss The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. Please note this is a one time departure from our usual second Tuesday of the month meeting night. Go with us back to the 1930’s, during the Franklin D. Roosevelt years, when books were delivered in the Appalachians of Kentucky by packhorse “librarians”. In this case, the books were also delivered by one of the blue-skinned people of that area, which you might never have heard of before. This historical novel has been lauded for it’s informed depiction of the Appalachians, its people and the redemptive power of books put in the right hands.
This film shows how the The Chicago Black Panther Party, the Latino group Young Lords Organization, and the Young Patriots organization banded together in 1969 to confront issues such as police brutality and substandard housing. Here is a link to where you can watch it for free. 
