Remembering Martin Luther King Jr Monday January 17, 2022

Jan 17

Martin Luther King was a brilliant Baptist minister and is considered the primary leader of the 20th century civil rights movement. He was the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and donated the entire prize money of over $50,000 to further the cause of civil rights.

King, who advocated for non-violent protest, was arrested more than twenty times, and assaulted at least four times. On April 4, 1968, his life ended by assassination.[i]

Last summer, my husband and I took our 10-year-old granddaughter, Emalynn Grace, to New York City and Washington, D.C. We wanted Emmi to visit these historical cities and have personal points of reference before studying about them in her 5th grade U.S. History class.

The impressive Martin Luther King Memorial was one of the stops on the all-day bus tour we took in D.C. On the same tour bus was a couple from Dallas, Texas, who had brought their two teenage grandkids to the nation’s capital with them. As I chatted with the grandma and observed this Black family, I was keenly aware of the fact that even though we were all U. S. citizens, our stories were very different. The way in which Dr. King’s life impacted their family’s story was unlike his influence on ours.

We all have our stories. In many ways, they are similar, but in many other ways, they are different. What’s important is every story matters.

I loved this picture Ron captured of two children at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D. C. Because our granddaughter was able to survey the Stone of Hope, the impressive granite statue of Dr. King, my hope is she will have a better understanding of the significance of today and will be reminded of the many stories that led to the establishment of this school-free national holiday.

Dr. King was a husband and a father. He was also a magnificent orator. His “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered in 1963 from the Lincoln Memorial in D.C., is considered by many to be one of the most powerful speeches ever given.

I close today’s post quoting this famous line:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”[ii]