Reflections on Dr. Martin Luther King's Holiday
I am too young to know the reality of the denial of civil rights to women and blacks. I was not born when women's suffrage happened. And I was just a young child when the Civil Rights movement was at its most formative. In essence, I grew up believing there are no differences between us. But that is not reality.
Equality still requires us to seek it. To believe in it. Above all to practice it. It started with a dream, a vision of what could, no, what should be. That how we measure our fellow humans is not their gender or color of skin, but by their character. Although we, and I include myself here, need to continue to strive for equality not just on paper or in laws, but in the hearts of every citizen, we can ponder the legacy left us by Dr. King and others. That legacy is non-violent protest.
I think that in today's violent, terror driven politics, we can better appreciate the legacy left to us called non-violent protest. It did not begin with Dr. King, but he certainly burned it into our country's corporate conscience. He did not choose the way of terrorists. He did not choose the path of power, realizing that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. He instead chose the meek path, one that requires a greater strength of spirit than mere guns and military might. He showed us that one person can make a difference. He showed us that there is great strength in percieved weakness. He knew that the true realization of his dream would not be an imposition of equality by law or military power, but by changed hearts and minds. He sought to change our hearts and minds with dialogue, debate, and friendship.
This is in stark contrast to the world in which we live where those who feel down trodden or dis-enfranchised turn to violence and terror. They do not seek a change of heart, but rather, a shift in the balance of power. In America, we have been left with a legacy given to us by Dr. King where we believe that we can make change happen one heart at a time, rather than mass conformity at the barrel of a gun. We truly believe it is a country of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Thanks to Dr. King, for the most part, we, as a nation, deplore violence as a means to an end, particuarly in the area of race relations and civil rights. Our marches on our nation's capital do not involve violence, and guns, and suicide bombers. We must remember to be profoundly grateful for that. Much of the credit goes to our brothers and sisters who, although denied thier civil rights, chose to take the path shown by Dr. King, and leave us in relative peace, even though they still suffer prejudice and in-equality. I do not fear a race related suicide bombing when I go to the mall or my chosen place of worship. Not that this has not happened. In fact, it is our black brothers and sisters who have had to endure an American form of terrorism. Fear of being bombed in church, or lynched because there were in the wrong place at the wong time. I am continually surprised by the patience of the Black community in waiting for their beloved country to wake up.
I believe that because of Dr. King's commitment to non-violent protest, we in America have been relatively free from the terror other countries experience. Even when Dr. King was brutally murdered, we did not see all out war. That alone is a resounding testament to the character of this man and an affirmation of the character of the black community as a whole. Our greatest testament to him is to celebrate his day, not with bombs, and riots, and terror, but instead with renewal of our personal commitment to the dream - that all men and women should be judged, not by their gender, or color of skin, or religious perference, or sexual orientation, but rather by their character.
So I will take today and remember with gratefulness that Dr. King took the path of non-violence and left us with a legacy we should be displaying to the world. It should cause all of us to stop and think for a minute - do I practice equality or am I bigoted and prejudiced?
Personally, I am renewing my commitment to equality and proclaim with a genuinely grateful heart, "Thank you Dr. King for sharing with us your dream, and showing us the non-violent path to achieve it. And thank you dear brothers and sisters of color, that you have lived his legacy with dignity and perseverance. Today, I stand with you and dream a common dream."
I am too young to know the reality of the denial of civil rights to women and blacks. I was not born when women's suffrage happened. And I was just a young child when the Civil Rights movement was at its most formative. In essence, I grew up believing there are no differences between us. But that is not reality.
Equality still requires us to seek it. To believe in it. Above all to practice it. It started with a dream, a vision of what could, no, what should be. That how we measure our fellow humans is not their gender or color of skin, but by their character. Although we, and I include myself here, need to continue to strive for equality not just on paper or in laws, but in the hearts of every citizen, we can ponder the legacy left us by Dr. King and others. That legacy is non-violent protest.
I think that in today's violent, terror driven politics, we can better appreciate the legacy left to us called non-violent protest. It did not begin with Dr. King, but he certainly burned it into our country's corporate conscience. He did not choose the way of terrorists. He did not choose the path of power, realizing that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. He instead chose the meek path, one that requires a greater strength of spirit than mere guns and military might. He showed us that one person can make a difference. He showed us that there is great strength in percieved weakness. He knew that the true realization of his dream would not be an imposition of equality by law or military power, but by changed hearts and minds. He sought to change our hearts and minds with dialogue, debate, and friendship.
This is in stark contrast to the world in which we live where those who feel down trodden or dis-enfranchised turn to violence and terror. They do not seek a change of heart, but rather, a shift in the balance of power. In America, we have been left with a legacy given to us by Dr. King where we believe that we can make change happen one heart at a time, rather than mass conformity at the barrel of a gun. We truly believe it is a country of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Thanks to Dr. King, for the most part, we, as a nation, deplore violence as a means to an end, particuarly in the area of race relations and civil rights. Our marches on our nation's capital do not involve violence, and guns, and suicide bombers. We must remember to be profoundly grateful for that. Much of the credit goes to our brothers and sisters who, although denied thier civil rights, chose to take the path shown by Dr. King, and leave us in relative peace, even though they still suffer prejudice and in-equality. I do not fear a race related suicide bombing when I go to the mall or my chosen place of worship. Not that this has not happened. In fact, it is our black brothers and sisters who have had to endure an American form of terrorism. Fear of being bombed in church, or lynched because there were in the wrong place at the wong time. I am continually surprised by the patience of the Black community in waiting for their beloved country to wake up.
I believe that because of Dr. King's commitment to non-violent protest, we in America have been relatively free from the terror other countries experience. Even when Dr. King was brutally murdered, we did not see all out war. That alone is a resounding testament to the character of this man and an affirmation of the character of the black community as a whole. Our greatest testament to him is to celebrate his day, not with bombs, and riots, and terror, but instead with renewal of our personal commitment to the dream - that all men and women should be judged, not by their gender, or color of skin, or religious perference, or sexual orientation, but rather by their character.
So I will take today and remember with gratefulness that Dr. King took the path of non-violence and left us with a legacy we should be displaying to the world. It should cause all of us to stop and think for a minute - do I practice equality or am I bigoted and prejudiced?
Personally, I am renewing my commitment to equality and proclaim with a genuinely grateful heart, "Thank you Dr. King for sharing with us your dream, and showing us the non-violent path to achieve it. And thank you dear brothers and sisters of color, that you have lived his legacy with dignity and perseverance. Today, I stand with you and dream a common dream."
posted by Ingenuus CEO at 9:24 AM
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