Monday, January 17, 2011

CELEBRATING KING

 As one of the most admired Americans in our county's short history, Martin Luther King Jr certainly deserves so much more than a single holiday to commemorate his legacy. 

I was looking through the archives online to give me some highlights that I could post on the Blog respectfully. The amount of information and the details of his life and vision far exceed anything I could write with any sense of honor.

Perhaps it is one of those life celebrations that allows each of us that chance to research and reflect on where we've come and where we're going. 
 
Something worth noting from Wikipedia: In 1968, shortly before his assassination, King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized the "Poor People's Campaign" to address issues of economic justice. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C. demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States. King traveled the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created a bill of rights for poor Americans.  

King and the SCLC called on the government to invest in rebuilding America's cities. He felt that Congress had shown "hostility to the poor" by spending "military funds with alacrity and generosity". He cited systematic flaws of "racism, poverty, militarism and materialism", and argued that "reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced".

You could say the issues that face America then still face her today. There is still much to do and precious little time to do it. You could argue that in a way, his death accelerated the possible achievements that followed. However, we will never know what realities lay ahead had he lived. So take this time to look at our continuing fight for equality while embracing the events that got us to this point today.

Thank you Dr King

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

MLK would be 82 years old today. His resume' since 1968 would have dwarfed what was previous. What a tremendous loss. Honor him by striving for the better.