Today, we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr Day. In order to give my kids some interesting facts, I looked up on the internet and found some cool information:
1-His name was originally Michael King but when his parents took a trip to Germany, his father made a decision to change his name to Martin Luther King (in homage to the famous theologian) and, thus, changed their son's name to Martin Luther King, Jr.
2-MLK Jr was a smoker. He hid it from the public and his kids because of the stigma.
3-When MLK Jr died at age 39, he had the heart of a 60 year old. They speculate that it's due to his stress level.
Now that we're past the cool facts, let's focus on the real message he was trying to get across. ALL men are created equal. ALL men can go on a path to greatness. ALL men should have the same possibilities available to them in every avenue of life. What an inspiring message.
It's funny how people will try to bash someone with a great message and find something wrong with them. There are rumors out there that he was an adulterer. There are rumors of things that he did and the fact that he was an agnostic at some point. These, of course, are simply rumors. Personally, none of those things matter to me. I think that Dr King had an amazing message and he was just like the rest of us, doing our best to be a good person. I'm sure he DID make mistakes, just like we all do but this speech and his work changed lives. He was an incredible man.
I wonder what he would have thought of our nation today. I wonder what his opinion would have been of the Ferguson riots. I wonder what he would have thought of "Black Lives Matter." I wonder what he would think of some of the President's remarks on race. The fact is that we have come a long way. I don't think Dr King would support ANY type of violence on behalf of ANY race. I don't believe he would have supported the riots in Ferguson; he would have supported peaceful protest and trying to make a difference in productive ways. I don't believe that he would support "Black Lives Matter" because the movement has taken so many violent ways on it. He would have supported a peaceful movement. You see, he wasn't just fighting for African Americans, he was fighting for everyone to have a fair shot. He was fighting for equality. All lives matter. All people should have opportunity. Dr King was about so much more than just one quality of a person. He wanted everyone to have the same opportunities available to them and, I think he would have fought for those same opportunities for every race and creed. He would have "fought" with speeches and inspiration, not looting and anger. Dr King was a great man.
I think we should all take a little bit of inspiration from Dr King today, and always. Be peaceful, not angry. You can absolutely fight for something but fight in productive ways that will change the world. In other words, don't reduce someone else's right to their opinion or their lifestyle. Dr King fought not to take away rights but to add. He fought not to give more of the pie to one race but, instead, to create more pie and make sure everyone had equal slices. He fought to make sure that EVERYONE had rights. Let's all fight for everyone's rights. Instead of worrying about whether or not you agree with gun control or whatever right, agree that we should all have the right to do as we please. Instead of fighting for one person's right to do something great, fight for everyone's right to find something great within themselves. Instead of teaching our kids what to think with common core, fight to teach our children HOW to think for themselves. We need more great men like Dr King. May he be honored greatly today
No comments:
Post a Comment