Awakenings: A Committed Life

Friday, January 17, 2014

A Committed Life

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This weekend thousands upon thousands of people will be preparing to commemorate on Monday the 85th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Newspapers will be filled with advertisement after advertisement designed as drawing cards for shoppers to visit local malls and take advantage of blowout sales, great deals and bargains galore. Prices will be slashed and signs will read Sale! Sale! Sale!

How many of those advertisements or signs do you suppose will include the accomplishments Dr. King achieved or the obstacles he had to overcome to reach remarkable heights of distinction?

Is he rapidly becoming just another forgotten figure in American history as school age children simply enjoy another day out of school?

How many know the committed life he led and the story behind the "I Have a Dream" speech?

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American pastor, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. During a time of turbulent history and democracy in America, Dr. King proclaimed a dream in his most famous iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a heartfelt speech which reminds us of the fundamental rights and values of man. Last year, 2013, marked the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the march on Washington.

...I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

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.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with...

—excerpt from Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech

There are brilliant moments in human history and magical moments in our lives, when our perception of the world is crystal clear and "time" itself seems to stand still! When these events occur, we remember exactly where we were and what was transpiring around us!

On Wednesday, August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. created an electrifying and spectacular moment in human history when he delivered his internationally famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Considered to be the best speech of the 20th century, it echoed throughout the entire world and continues to reverberate through time and the soul of humanity today! —RK Hendrick