【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 rs。 heamp。39。s been to jail for struggling。 heamp。39。s been kicked out of Vanderbilt University for this struggle, but heamp。39。s still going on, fighting for the rights of his people. Reverend Ralph Jackson, Billy Kiles。 I could just go right on down the list, but time will not permit. But I want to thank all of them. And I want you to thank them, because so often, preachers arenamp。39。t concerned about anything but themselves. And Iamp。39。m always happy to see a relevant ministry.
　　Itamp。39。s all right to talk about amp。quot。long white robes over yonder,amp。quot。 in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here! Itamp。39。s all right to talk about amp。quot。streets flowing with milk and honey,amp。quot。 but God has manded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who canamp。39。t eat three square meals a day. Itamp。39。s all right to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, Godamp。39。s preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.
　　Now the other thing weamp。39。ll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people. Individually, we are poor when you pare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively that means all of us together collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the American Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual ine of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? Thatamp。39。s power right there, if we know how to pool it.
　　We donamp。39。t have to argue with anybody. We donamp。39。t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We donamp。39。t need any bricks and bottles. We donamp。39。t need any Molotov cocktails. We just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, amp。quot。God sent us by here, to say to you that youamp。39。re not treating his children right. And weamp。39。ve e by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where Godamp。39。s children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.amp。quot。
　　And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy CocaCola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy what is the other bread? Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread pany, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hartamp。39。s bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain。 now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these panies because they havenamp。39。t been fair in their hiring policies。 and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on town downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right.
　　But not only that, weamp。39。ve got to strengthen black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in TriState Bank. We want a amp。quot。bankinamp。quot。 movement in Memphis. Go by the savings and loan association. Iamp。39。m not asking you something that we donamp。39。t do ourselves at SCLC. Judge Hooks and others will tell you that we have an account here in the savings and loan association from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We are telling you to follow what we are doing. Put your money there. You have six or seven black insurance panies here in the city of Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an amp。quot。insurancein.amp。quot。
　　Now these are some practical things that we can do. We begin the process of building a greater economic base. And at the same time, we are putting pressure where it really hurts. I ask you to follow through here.
　　Now, let me say as I move to my conclusion that weamp。39。ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis. Weamp。39。ve got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. If it means leaving work, if it means leaving school be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.
　　Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness. One day a man came to Jesus, and he wanted to raise some questions about some vital matters of life. At points he wanted to trick Jesus, and show him that he knew a little more than Jesus knew and throw him off base....
　　Now that question could have easily ended up in a philosophical and theological debate. But Jesus immediately pulled that question from midair, and placed it on a dangerous curve between Jerusalem and Jericho. And he talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves.