Digging Deeper: Interdependence

Dear friends,

Civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., wrote in Letter from the Birmingham Jail: “We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” These two sentences from a six-page letter were shared extensively in January across social media, to commemorate King’s birthday and legacy.

The whole paragraph reads: “Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial ‘outside agitator’ idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider.”

The context in which he wrote this quote was the civil rights movement, seeking to right the injustices of segregation. Yet the context in which people shared the two sentences from his quote varied across issues that included climate change, other human rights issues and civic engagement. If the “likes” were an indication of interest, a lot of people seem to recognize the truth of interdependence reflected in his words.

I went back to Mr. King’s letter and read it in its entirety to better understand how he explored moving from awareness to action. I could never do justice here to the substance of that letter but I did take away this: After awareness came a mindful questioning about how to act, the personal consequences of action and finally the decision to move forward with action, in this case non-violent protests. We may not face such pivotal actions as Mr. King and the Civil Rights movement did (or maybe we do), but we can certainly take our awareness, question our role in this web of interconnectedness and act mindfully.

In loving awareness,
Lisa