I heard about him for the first time at school in history class... his words, his life, his nature, his character impressed me deeply even then... as a little boy I thought he was a hero... as a grown man I admire him for his courage and his vision, for standing up for the oppressed and disadvantaged and for his tireless calls to bring the necessary change in society peacefully... It is incredibly sad that this wonderful man had to die far too soon, murdered at the hands of a criminal... I often wonder what our world would be like today if Dr. Martin Luther King had been able to fulfill his visions, if his words had been heard... if he had been able to influence our world longer and more intensely? I am sure our world would be a better one.... Rest in peace, you courageous, wise and peace-loving soul. 🖤
What he said in a May 1967 interview with NBC is particularly relevant to the times we're living in now:
[i]“I must confess that that dream that I had that day has in many points turned into a nightmare. Now I’m not one to lose hope. I keep on hoping. I still have faith in the future. But I’ve had to analyze many things over the last few years and I would say over the last few months, I’ve gone through a lot of soul-searching and agonizing moments. And I’ve come to see that we have many more difficulties ahead and some of the old optimism was a little superficial and now it must be tempered with a solid realism. And I think the realistic fact is that we still have a long, long way to go.” [/i]
@Rutterman Sometimes I wonder what Dr. King would think about the fact that in the South, they’ve gone almost full circle from guilt into denial and in some states won’t even teach school children about him, because they don’t want to discuss Jim Crow, the bus strike, the lynchings, or anything that explains [b]why[/b] he was so important to this country. 😞
He was one of kind. His commitment to non-violence was deep, personal, and extraordinary. I'm reading the new biography, by Jonathan Eig, for the holiday this year. Highly recommended.
What made him so extraordinary to me, is that he was speaking not to just Blacks and not to just their oppression, but to all of us, to all of humanity, speaking against all inequality.
@Ontheroad Yes. He supported workers’ rights, women’s rights; Coretta once said that he would’ve supported the civil rights of the LGBT community, too.
@bijouxbroussard For a long time I couldn't grasp why anyone who ever heard him or read about him wasn't... I don't know, let's call it "swept up" in what he was saying, didn't see how what he was saying was the way for all of us to go forward together.
I still feel that way, but I learned why so many couldn't or refused to be swept up in the goodness of what he was saying.
The social/political upheavals of the '60s - reaching a peak in 1968,the year of Dr.King's murder - were astonishing to those of us looking on from outside the U.S. Equally back then,Dr.King was a well-known and highly respected figure internationally,his reputation and achievement rightly well- remembered today,so many years after his passing.
@bijouxbroussard would those states by any chance be shaped like a part of the body they don't want to teach kids about in a twist of irony you can't make up?
