Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day across the land. I have to hand it to Dr. King. He had "things" that prevent lots of us from ever taking risks: a fabulous education, a loving spouse and kids, a roof over his head and a job that fed him and his family. Yet, Dr. King decided to take a stand for basic human rights. He was a real humanitarian and an American who stood for the country's core values. He took this stand with the complete awareness that he could indeed be assassinated. If only every human being had that amount of moral courage!
Being influenced by the teachings of Gandhi and Jesus, Dr. King employed a wide range of non-violent tactics that eventually helped end racial segregation and helped shed light on America's poor (of all races) . Sadly, and ironically, Dr. King's persistence and determination led to his violent, untimely death at the age of 39. I think of myself, and others my age (36), and wonder what kind of influence we can have in bettering the world around us.
I have always been a collector of quotes. And, I recall reading a compilation of Dr. King's quotes back in the early 90's. It was then that I thought more and more about the unspoken and spoken racism that still existed in my hometown. Blacks lived "across the tracks" or in the "nigger quarters."Eventually "nigger" became too taboo to say, but blacks then lived in the "quarters." I also wondered about my church and other churches where there were no black members. How did "God's children" reconcile this with the teachings of Jesus? This still puzzles me. Even today, there are those who bristle at the notion of honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sadly, even one of my own family members, said, "Martin Luther King did no good whatsoever." Perhaps, though, this sentiment is further evidence of the real magnitude of the social change MLK helped usher in. In this sense, he was a John Brown or Buddha or Susan B. Anthony. These giants sought wholesale change at the risk of being killed. Their message was too unbearable for the status quo to accept, at least initially. What's indeed fascinating to me is that, when I do travel and meet people from other places, often Dr. King's name is brought up. There is alot of admiration for him around the world. He's our Gandhi, our Nelson Mandela, our William Wallace, our Joan of Arc, our Aung San Suu Kyi. Click here for the "I Have a Dream" speech
No comments:
Post a Comment