He had a dream
By Christy On Friday, April 4, 2008 At 7:45 AM
With it being the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.s untimely death, I thought perhaps I'd write briefly to discuss him and how he has inspired so many people around the world.At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.
On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.
Evil people deserve no amount of fame or recognition so his killer need not be spoken about. I just want to quickly remind everyone what Martin Luther King stood for and what he was so passionate about.
On the 28th of August in 1963 about 250,000 people gathered and listened to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech when summed up his biggest goal and these words have gone down in history as some of the most well spoken and inspiring words ever to be put together:
"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character".
He took such an amazing stance in his short life and became the cause of so many great waves of change to come. I hope he sees there has been significant improvements in our society since his death and I hope he is proud.
But there is still much change needed. Still, too often, people fall back on the color of his skin or her skin of their own skin as the reason for how to behave. How irresponsible and conceited that is. Paint me purple or blue or green and I will still treat each of you just as I would wish you to treat me. There are no "ifs" or "buts" about it, exceptions do NOT exist in my world.
We are ONE race. We are the HUMAN race.
Labels: Martin Luther King Jr
I think it's good, what Dr. King was trying to do. I have issues with some of the ways we learn about it these days. It seems it undoes what he did.
When my kids are 6 or 7 in school and someone tells them about it, the only thing they seem to come away with is not that things need to change, but that there's a difference.
I can see where you are comng from pentupentropy. Sometimes giving something too much attention can backfire. It's a tough case. I honestly don't know of a better approach though. =o/
I agree with pentupentropy, but also would like to add that one thing I just cannot stand when it comes to "diversity" training, or anything similar, is that the majority of the people that I have listened to say things like "tolerance". If we are trying to teach everyone to get along and how we can celebrate and learn from each other's cultures, I certainly don't think the word "tolerance" is a good word to use. When you are "tolerating" something, doesn't that have a negative connotation to it? It like saying, come on everybody lets have this love fest, and learn to tolerate each other. HUh??
Great post,
Ja
Ja, I also see where you are coming from and I agree. Tolerance, though I think it isn't meant to be a "bad" word in this case, I do think it is inappropriate. Because it suggests you're merely acting a certain way to appease someone and that is not the point.
I'm amazed at his voice, capacity and brave ability to speak his mind. I really struggle with this - in every area of my life. He was a one of a kind.
Claudia, I agree, he was indeed one of a very special kind.
Christy,
I see where you are coming from too. I know that some things aren't meant to be "bad" but I guess sometimes, even when intentions aren't bad, things don't come out so good. It reminds me of when people say things like "I am colorblind" or " i don't care what color you are". Like one "color" is not as good as the other. I have learn that the colorblind thing is just words. Of course we see what "color" a person is, and I think it is a good thing to learn and appreciate other cultures, and heritages. We have to know they exsist to learn about them. I have really enjoyed reading your blog, and will continue!
Thank you ja, I have meandered over to your blog and see you are doing a great service to the world being a blogging advocate of sorts. Continue! God bless!