This is a day I love. Our country only celebrates bdays w a national Monday “shutdown” holiday 2x a year: Presidents Day (Washington/Lincoln), & MLK Jr. Day.
Whenever asked that question – if you could have lunch/dinner w any historical figure, who’d it be: MLK is always my answer.
King advanced civil rights thru nonviolence & civil disobedience, inspired by his religious beliefs & the activism of Mahatma Gandhi.
In 1964, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality thru nonviolent resistance. But the VISION he continued to share, publicly, while employing the tactics above, for change, is what I believe truly set him apart.
Consider this – he only lived to the age of 39. Wow. If you look at the folks who lead our country now, King made the impact he did, at abt half the age of most of the folks currently in leadership positions. He’d be considered a youngen in Washington.
He did it all by uniting ppl – by communicating pictures of his visions…his visions for equality. It wasn’t enough to peacefully protest. He did so while sharing the change he wanted to see take place – in a unifying manner.
Consider HOW DIFFERENT that is vs a world now where our leaders point at “the other side” & communicate abt “what’s wrong w them” as opposed to how we can come together for change.
Change is hard. But I truly believe change comes abt by communicating the visions we have for that change – to bring ppl together. I believe that in MH, where for too long the narrative’s been abt labels & bucketing, & asking one group to “stop stigma” against another group.
Consider these 2 visions he painted in his Dream speech. He didn’t say: I have a dream where “you” all stop the atrocities, & treat “us” fairly & equally. He painted this pic/vision…I have a dream where:
“the sons of former slaves & the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” Where…
“one day…little black boys & black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys & white girls as sisters & brothers.”
So much abt: change, vision, & unification we could really use today in our fractured world.
