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GLENN: I have to tell you that last night, last night I had Dr. Alveda came, Martin Luther King's niece on television. If you DVRed it, it is a don't miss show. I walked off the set and I said, I don't know if anybody else feels this way. Maybe it's just me, but it was a turning point and it was a pivot point at least for me. I don't know if it was a turning point or it was confirming. I see the landing strip after last night. I see it. I've been telling you for the last while now that I know we're around it, and I guess all I needed was a little bit of confirmation historically, and I got it last night, and additional pieces came last night. Alveda King is Martin Luther King's niece. She's about 60 years old. She was marching with Martin Luther King, she was arrested. Her father left her in jail one night because she was seen on television. Some supporter pushed her friend down. I think it was actually a cop, she said, pushed her friend down and so she broke ranks and she went and she helped her friend up and then she was arrested. Her father saw it on television and said, what are you doing? She said, well, I'm in jail. He said, I know you're in jail; I saw you on television. He said, you don't break ranks. What part of nonviolence don't you understand? And she said, well, I just thought and he said, I know you just thought; maybe you should think about it some more; I'll pick you up tomorrow. And he left her in jail overnight. These people were serious about nonviolence.
I saw the headlines that the press had said, and I showed them last night on television. The things the press said about Dr. Martin Luther King, that he was stirring up trouble, he was stirring up violence, he was going to be responsible for all of the violence, that these people, these marches are violent. All of the same things were said. And Dr. Martin Luther King did not have the press on his side, until the liberal press got down there and they said, oh, we've got to help these poor African Americans out, we've just got to help them out. I have no confirmation on this, but I'm guessing that there were a lot of people in the civil rights movement that were like, "Oh, gee. Thank you." The white man coming down to help, the liberal white man.
But Dr. King told me yesterday when she first walked on the set, she grabbed my hand. She said, bless your heart. She said, you know you're on it, don't you? And I said, no, I know I'm close. She said, no. And she pointed to faith, hope and charity. She said, no, you're on it. She said, I never forget what my uncle used to say to me all the time. She said, he grabbed my hand. He said, Alveda, the secret is faith, hope, and helping one another. Faith, hope, and charity. She said, that was his answer; that is the answer.
I love this woman. She is fantastic. You know what? I'm going to ask her if she'll come. Maybe we'll, maybe we'll have her come out on the road with me once and talk because she was an inspiration.
Ted Nugent's in town here in New York which is always an interesting experience to have Ted Nugent in New York. He kind of sticks out when he's walking down the streets, but he's going to be in in a second and I think he was inspired as well yesterday. But she yesterday, she showed me something. Let me show it up here, and you can barely see it. I'll show it for the Insider Extreme camera but you can barely see it because it's a bad photocopy but I'm going to go over this tonight. I'm going to build this up on the website today. It will be ready hopefully by tonight. And it was, this is what they had everybody sign. Martin Luther King had every marcher sign. And I want to put this up on the website and I want, I want you to electronically sign it. There were a couple of things. First, this is what they the commitment card they had you sign: I hereby pledge myself, my person and body to the nonviolent movement. I therefore will keep the following Ten Commandments: One, meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.
You know what? You should get the teachings of Jesus by Thomas Jefferson. It's a great book. I don't know if they still publish it. They published it for an anniversary I think about 15 years ago. Look for it on Amazon. It's great.
"Remember always that the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation, not victory. Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love. Pray daily to be used by God in order that all men may be free." This one we've been talking about just recently. This one goes to duty: "Sacrifice personal wishes in order that all men may be free. Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy. Seek to perform regular service for others and the world. Number 8, refrain from violence of fist, tongue and heart. Nine, strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health." That's just my life, that's my life. That's my life. (Mumbling). Number two, follow the directions of the movement and the captain of the demonstration. I sign this pledge having seriously considered what I do and with the determination and will to persevere.
And then underneath it says, besides demonstrations, I can also help the movement by running errands, driving my car, fix food for volunteers, clerical work, make phone calls, answer phones, mimeograph, type, print signs, distribute leaflets. Looks to me like the next phase of the 9/12 project.
But then there was another list as well and we'll go into that in a minute. There was another list as well. The things that he said you've got to do every day. And this goes back to something that we're working on. I've got this, I've got this guy who is just unbelievable. He's from Cambridge University, and he is a professor of the history of ideas. This guy will tell you don't ever say, man, that's a cool train. You can even say, that's a cool tie. And he'll say, hmmm, yeah. "You know why ties were invented?" What? "Do you know why train tracks are the distance from each other that they are?" What? And he will take you down ancient Rome and you'll be like... and it's fascinating, unless you have to be with him for about eight hours because you are just like, I can't take anymore! But he is just one of the most fascinating people I know, and we were talking over my Christmas break because I asked him to chart some things from ancient Babylon all the way to today, and he's the only guy that was like, oh, that is fascinating, yes, I'll do that in my spare time about 3:00 a.m. in the mornings. Oh, my gosh, that is a great idea.
So he's working on something for me. But we were talking about, he's currently fascinated by the idea of being a better man. He said, you know, I've been thinking about the guys especially, the American patriots that were such good men. He said, that just didn't happen. He said, they really had to work at it. Benjamin Franklin and George Washington themselves had a list that they made every day. They had a list. They checked it every day, every morning and every night: Did I do these things, where did I fall short here. He said, they really worked at it. So he's writing a book and doing research on what they did and how they did it. And I I mean, I'm hoping to be able to have enough time to be able to bring that to you so you can, you can use it as a study guide. But I think that's what Martin Luther King did with this list that I'll give to you in a little while. These are the things you've got to do every day.
I'm reading a book. I can't even remember what the name of it is. It's on George Whitfield. He was instrumental in the American Revolution. If it wasn't for him, our founders said if it wasn't for him, it wouldn't have happened. And I'm reading about his life and when he was over in England and he went to Cambridge, and he changed his life. He changed his life and became very, very disciplined and became very spiritual. It was the key. Most people have never heard of him. But the American Revolution, now think of this. At the time of the American Revolution, he had come over. He was minister and he would give these sermons, and 25,000, 30,000 people per sermon would hear him. Now, imagine how quiet people had to be, to be able to hear a man, 25,000 people at a clip. By the time of the American Revolution, 80% of the American population had heard one of his sermons, preached by him, firsthand. That's amazing the influence he had. What was his message? I'm finding it again: Faith, hope and charity.