It was April 30, 1967. I was 11 years old sitting on the front row of the balcony of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church with my friend Yolanda King on my left.
We were listening to her father, Martin Luther King Jr., recite his sermon: “Why I’m Opposed to the War in Vietnam.”Click here to read the transcript.
King’s words have played in my heart for the decades ever since. This past week I felt compelled to find the sermon and listen to it once again. His words transcend the decades that lead us to today — a truth that is just as relevant today as it was during the Vietnam War nearly 60 years ago.
It was with that backdrop we heard the news that Navanethem “Navi” Pillay had won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, an award King had received in 1964 (and an award that President Donald Trump has coveted).
Pillay worked as a judge on the International Criminal Court (ICC). She also served on the United Nations’ commission on Israel, which determined the country was committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, a finding rejected by Israel.
(Just hours after Pillay received the Nobel Peace Prize, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the U.S. government had imposed sanctions against the ICC and was seeking to dismantle the UN organization.)
All of these conflicting emotions were ever-present on Oct. 10 when ISB-Atlanta (formerly the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta) held its annual gala. I was honored to be asked to be an honorary chair of the dinner along with Southern Co.’s Babar Mansoor and the Carter Center’s Jason Carter. I am of Jewish heritage, Mansoor is a Muslim and Carter is Christian.
That was the tone of Saturday evening. The ballroom was filled with Christians, Jews and Muslims – showing that people of all faiths can be respectful of each other and demonstrate they choose love over hate and peace over war.
It took me back to King’s messages arguing against racism, militarism and economic exploitation. Instead, he prayed for civil and human rights for all, non-violence and peace while no longer exploiting people and nations for profit.
The spirit of the gala was to make sure we seek ways to communicate with each other, explore our common beliefs and develop areas of understanding through nonviolence.
Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young said that when he came to Atlanta in 1961, we called ourselves as a city too busy to hate.
“When I come in this room, I realize we are not a city that’s too busy to love,” said Young, who was one of King’s foot soldiers in the civil rights movement. “Peace is not a dream. Peace is a reality in this room, and it is a reality in our community.”
ISB-Atlanta has been seeking to open channels of communication between people of different faiths for 25 years. It has sought to build a better understanding of the teachings of Islam.
“It’s been 25 years of building bridges, opening hearts and minds,” Soumaya Khalifa, founder and executive director of ISB-Atlanta, said at the dinner. “When relationships grow, communities grow stronger.”
But Khalifa then reminded the gala’s attendees that challenges still exist.
“I wish I could tell you prejudice is behind us,” said Khalifa, who lamented the fact that divisions among people have become political tools. Unfortunately, Muslims continue to be targets of prejudice.
The ISB-Atlanta then presented the Distinguished Leadership Award to the Arthur M. Blank family and its foundation. Blank is of the Jewish faith.
The award was accepted by Kenny Blank, Arthur Blank’s oldest son and executive director of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival; and Fay Twersky, president of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Again, their presence exemplified the message of the evening.
“This is Atlanta at its best,” Kenny Blank said. Then he shared recollections of his grandmother, Molly Blank, whom he described as “a very, very tough woman” who loved the arts because she knew they could help open people’s minds. “My grandmother would be heartbroken by the state of the world right now.”
Twersky said that when she first arrived in Atlanta in early 2021, Kenny Blank told her she had to meet Khalifa.
That relationship became vital after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, which killed about 1,200. The tensions between Muslims and Jews were especially raw, and the two of them got together to share their feelings with each other. The Blank Foundation partnered with ISB to hold a training session for its employees on Islamophobia.
Islamophobia and antisemitism are rooted in division, distrust and prejudice – much like racism, an issue that plagued the South in the days of segregation. Atlanta stood out during the 1960s as a city where Black and white leaders could have civil discourse and seek ways to work through their differences.
“When I think of a quarter century [during the time ISB-Atlanta has existed], what a gift it is for you to do this work in a city that has such a rich history of social justice and human rights,” said Kenny Blank, who quoted one of his father’s favorite sayings that there’s no finish line. “We will eventually achieve a better community and a better society.”
And that took me back to the themes of Martin Luther King Jr.’s sermon on April 30, 1967, when he spoke of the burden of responsibility that was placed upon him when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
“I cannot forget that the Nobel Peace Prize was not just something taking place, but it was a commission – a commission to work harder than I had ever worked before for the brotherhood of man,” King said. “This is a calling that takes me beyond national allegiances.”
At the time, King was having to defend his stance against the Vietnam War and his criticism of President Lyndon Johnson, who was pushing the war. Many in the civil rights movement felt King was being disloyal because Johnson had worked hard to pass the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.
“To me, the relationship of this ministry to the making of peace is so obvious that I sometimes marvel at those who ask me why I am speaking against the war,” King said. “Have they forgotten that my ministry is in obedience to the one who loved his enemies so fully that he died for them?”
Later in his sermon, King said he opposed the Vietnam War because he loved America.
“I speak out against this war, not in anger, but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and, above all, with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as the moral example of the world,” King said. “I speak out against this war because I am disappointed with America. And there can be no great disappointment where there is not great love.”
I feel blessed to have grown up in Atlanta, where I had the opportunity to be in Ebenezer that Sunday to hear King preach from his heart with words that still ring true today.
Note to readers: Maria Saporta serves on ISB-Atlanta’s Advisory Council.
