link to MLK's "The World House" essay

In the title above is a link to Martin Luther King's "The World House." Here's a little bit more, below, about one group that promotes our knowing about it:

In the fall of 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, members of the Rhode Island chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) went on retreat to study the writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and reflect on their relevance to those recent acts of terrorism. We read "The World House," the last chapter of Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, a book now long out of print.

This chapter, based on Dr. King’s Nobel Peace Prize lecture, seemed truly prophetic and prescient. We wondered whether the tragedies of September 11 and a whole lot of other human suffering might have been averted had activists, scholars, journalists, religious leaders, and elected officials taken King’s message seriously. Dr. King's World House vision seemed to offer a paradigm shift away from nation-state thinking and toward a global Beloved Community — what King would have regarded as the Kingdom of God on earth.

Many of us in Rhode Island have dedicated ourselves to disseminating King's prophetic World House message, aware that it is virtually unknown to the American people and cannot be acted upon until it is understood. Working through such organizations as the FOR, the RI Committee for Nonviolence Initiatives, and the Rhode Island Peace Mission, we have produced materials and promoted the World House vision and agenda with members of the Rhode Island Congressional delegation.

We have constructed a portable World House replica to use as an educational tool in schools, churches, and with community groups. Our exhibit was on display at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center for the Revolutionary Women 2004 event that coincided with the Democratic National Convention.

We wish to thank Dr. Dorothy F. Cotton, one of Martin Luther King's close associates, for calling our attention to the World House vision. "If you want to know what Dr. King would be doing today," she told us, "read the last chapter of his last book." We are grateful for the direction and support Dorothy has provided as we undertake this work. We also want to credit Nondas Voll of the Fund for Community Progress for the terrific idea of building a moveable exhibit to explain Dr. King’s vision.

As Dorothy reminds us, we accomplish this work only in community.