One of my best girlfriends called me the morning of September 11, 2001, and said: "Turn on your television." I did, and like the rest of the world, became transfixed as I watched images too surreal.
Many years ago, I'd finished another spring day at high school. Then came the terrible news that Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated. This man had so dazzled me with his enormous ability to rouse crowds and motivate. Instead of hate and anger, King preached messages of non violence, optimism and hope.
How could anyone wish to murder this man? I knew why. King was struck down by those who did not want to see racial reconcialiation. King was murdered by those who wanted a continuation of Jim Crow America and a denial of civil rights to those who had been denied way, way too long.
Today, others remember what this remarkable man preached and achieved. And they acknowledge how much our nation has changed since that fateful day.
It is easy to bask in his glow four decades after his death. It took incredible bravery at the time to walk with him in support of his cause. And it wasn't only his cause. It was an American cause. He challenged this country to live up to its ideals and what he knew was its better nature, if it could escape from behind the barricade of prejudice and ignorance.
He said, "I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality . I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."
King sent out more than a ripple of hope, he sent out a flood. Without him there might not have been a civil rights movement, at least not one as effective in breaking the chains of injustice. That's a legacy that should make all Americans proud. That's why King deserves more than a national holiday. In what he said about race and brotherhood, he deserves to be followed.Today, another man who would have been deprived civil rights has he lived when I was a child is running for president. Barack Obama is also a man with exceptional speaking abilities, the power to excite and to motivate. Currently, however, much of his future remains unknown. Although Obama calls his candidacy the "audacity of hope" - some wonder how positive his message is.
Time will tell.
In the meantime, we might all reflect today on the life of a man who changed America forever - and forever for the better. Wherever you were on the day a bullet stopped Reverend King - or, even if you were not yet with us - your life is much better today because of what King did.
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