I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, quality, and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, other-centered men can build up. -Martin Luther King, Jr.
I love Martin Luther King, Jr. I love that he was brave enough to stand up for equality and I love that he encouraged peaceful means to accomplish it. His "I Have a Dream" speech brings me to tears every time. I know we still have a way to go, but I share his dream.
When I think about how recent in our nation's history his campaign for equal rights and desegregation really was, I am amazed. To think that such a short time ago, black and white kids had to go to different schools, blacks and whites rode different buses, used different drinking fountains.... it's just unbelievable. I am grateful for Dr. King and others like him who heightened our awareness of the deplorable injustices and prejudices that African Americans faced.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.I know that many of these prejudices still exist in our country, and I don't know if I would have had the courage to stand up for the underprivileged and abused in the time of Martin Luther King. But as a mother today, one very important aspect of parenting for me is teaching my children to be tolerant of others and their differences. I hope to do my part by bringing up my children in the light that can drive out darkness and the love that can cast out hate.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
I love the way Tasha put it: "I want to make my free agency worth it, to make great decisions, to move toward a greatness that has nothing to do with status or things or wealth." Ditto.
8 comments:
I could seriously ditto my sediments as well. The more I live in this world the more I'm aware that we all need to be like this great Man. Obviously I don't mean in such a public manner, but we should all be fighting for what we believe in. Now more than ever.
I know I could do better...thanks for the reminder.
That's a great quote from Tasha, and nice thoughts from you.
Oh, I'm so glad you wrote about this. I love what you said. My first grader, Avery, was asking me about Martin Luther King the other day, and I tried to explain who he was, and why we honor him. It was so hard for them to understand racism even in simple terms. At the end of my little talk she said, "Didn't they know we are all Heavenly Father's children?" It just about did me in.
He was truly a brave and honorable man that a lot us can learn a thing or two from. Your thoughts on him and today are right on. Love it.
I LOVE that thought- other-centered men can build up! SO profound and simple and true! Happy Civil Right's Day!!
Beautiful post, Michelle. So very well said (Tasha, too!). It unthinkable that not too long ago segregation was a way of life. It is difficult to think of what that must have been like. Would I have done something? Would I have marched? Or would I, in a more quiet way, made my feelings known? Thanks in large part to Dr. King, it IS nearly impossible to imagine segregation and radical discrimination. I am also not naieve enough to think that all of this has been done away with - living for 5 years in the South showed me that - but we have come a long way and must continue to preserve and further Martin Luther King, Jr.'s cause.
All of that did happen so recently. It's amazing how much happened in the second half of the last century--the civil rights movement being up there at the top. I can't imagine life in places where racism is still a way of life. I just finished the book Daughter of Fortune. She wrote that when slaves got sick their owners called the veterinarian. Anything born out of such human indecency and misunderstanding is evil and hateful. Thank goodness for people who stood up for change.
Great thoughts. You inspire me always.
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