VIOLENCE BEGETS VIOLENCE

[Babs onabanjo]

[Babs onabanjo]

Press Statement:         VIOLENCE BEGETS VIOLENCE

For Immediate Release:                                                          For more info:

January 20, 2023.                                                                    Dr.  Babs Onabanjo, Ceo                                                                                   & President, A. D. King Foundation Inc.

                                                                                                                       [phone]

 As we observe King Week, the National Holiday commemorating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is fitting that during this current climate of violence, we be reminded of the strong, relevant principles of nonviolence that Dr. King taught us.  After receiving several calls, the A. D. King Foundation, (founded and named for Rev. Alfred Daniel (A. D.) King, brother of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), is compelled to join the discourse about the recent acts of violence in metro-Atlanta involving protestors and law enforcement officials.  The wounding of a Georgia State Trooper and the shooting death of one of the protestors demonstrate one of the scenarios described by Dr. King in his book, "Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?     

“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.”                             Martin Luther King, Jr. 1967                                                                                       

While the right to peaceful protest is essential to our democracy, a night of rage, which promotes violence, can only further descend into chaos.  Prayerfully, all parties involved will seek more peaceful, nonviolent means of resolving conflicts.  The A. D. King Foundation stresses the importance of nonviolent strategies as a way of life using these strategies as a basis of conflict resolution. Violence is counterproductive.

The A. D. King Foundation subscribes to the principle belief promoted in the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“It [violence] is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.”

 Dr. King instructed us in his I have a Dream speech on peaceful protest.  He said, “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.”  (I Have a Dream, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.)

 Mrs. Naomi Ruth Barber King, widow of Rev. A. D. King and President-Emeritus of the A. D. King Foundation said she is disturbed in her spirit about the violence the tendency to resort to violence during protest.  She shared the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Peace cannot be achieved through violence; it can only be attained through understanding.”

[The A. D. King Foundation, Inc. is a nonviolent conflict resolution entity formed to revolutionize the mindset, attitude, and behavior that promotes violence and war with nonviolent principles, methods, and direct actions.]