Martin Luther King Jr. Day - a Federal Holiday that should be observed by all corporations, schools and Religions. It took many years after the death of Dr. King before a day was set aside in honor of him.
This years Holiday will have even more meaning as it will be followed up by the inaguration of the first African American President - Barrack Obama.
For those of use who dared to believe him and his "I have a Dream" speech can now relish in the bittersweet memories of that long journey to this point in time - this "MOMENT".
"The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty."
Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967.
Let us remember that we still have a long journey to the promised land. Racist attitudes and beliefs that still exist in every community must be eradicated. Black men and women must be able to live without fear or intimidation from local law enforcement . Black mothers and fathers must be able to wait for the return of their children without the crippling fear that the hatred will hurt or kill their children.
"Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to choose between alternatives. He is distinguished from animals by his freedom to do evil or to do good and to walk the high road
of beauty or tread the low road of ugly degeneracy."
Martin Luther King, Jr., The Measures of Man, 1959.
Let us continue to rise up against the hatred that has no justification. Like Dr. King, let us reach for all of the poor and let their battle to survive become our battle to survive. Let us feel their hunger and their cold. Let us learn to share with all of mankind all that we possess. Let us build the bridges connecting the have to the have not's. For we are our brothers keeper.
"Being a Negro in America means trying to smile when you want to cry. It means trying to hold on to physical life amid psychological death. It means the pain of watching your children grow up with clouds of inferiority in their mental skies. It means having your legs cut off, and then being condemned for being a cripple. It means seeing your mother and father spiritually murdered by the slings and arrows of daily exploitation, and then being hated for being an orphan."
Martin Luther King Jr. Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967
Pictures courtesy of MLKONLINE http://www.mlkonline.net/
Recent Comments