Today I remember not only the works, words and writings of one man, but the efforts of all those he inspired. Because this day, especially this day, is about so much more than one man, or two men, or if you think Beyonce did our national anthem justice.
I've been reading quite a bit of Martin Luther King's words for class; he makes it easy to believe in rational change and in the good of society, and he does not hide the hardship of it. He believed in nonviolent revolution, strategy, and love. And yes, equality, and the power of a dream.
"Where do we go from here? First, we must massively assert our dignity and worth. We must stand up amid a system that still oppresses us and develop an unassailable and majestic sense of values. We must no longer be ashamed of being black. The job of arousing manhood within a people that have been taught for so many centuries that they are nobody is not easy."
"And I must confess, my friends, that the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. And there will be those moments when buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. We may again, with tear-drenched eyes, have to stand before the bier of some courageous civil rights worker whose life will be snuffed out by the dastardly acts of bloodthirsty mobs. But difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future."
- Martin Luther King "Where do We Go From Here?"
- From the desk of Mrs. M
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