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"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."
~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Nobody lived by these words better than Dr. King did. This strong, intelligent, determined Black man believed so much in his dream to help to create equality in the United States that he was willing to die for it. And on April 4, 1968, that is exactly what happened. For that I am so very grateful.
You see, I grew up in a mostly White town. Growing up there was certainly a divide among the Black and White students. Most of the Black students didn't take honors classes. In fact, my senior year I was the only Black person in my AP English class. However, I was blessed to have a wonderful teacher who truly didn't care about color, class or gender.
She always did her very best to make that we read just many books and stories about Blacks as we did about Shakespeare. And somehow, I'm convinced that regardless of not if I had been in her class or not, she still would have selected the reading material she did. In my opinion, she was one of the few non-Black teachers who truly embraced Dr. King's mindset of total equality.
Today, I live in a nice neighborhood where there is only two other Black families besides my own. And I'm thankful that we get along with almost all of our neighbors. I'm pretty sure that without Dr. King and his Civil Rights peers, I wouldn't have had such good experiences in these situations.
So, today we're not celebrating the achievements of Dr. King, but a renewing of his legacy. I challenge everyone reading this take on a dream that you feel is worth dying for. Find that one thing that you are passionate to death about and go for it. Maybe, it's something to do with your kids, your family, your community, etc. Just go forth and make a positive difference!
How are you keeping Dr. King's legacy alive?
