Despite the countless number of times that we have heard Dr. Martin Luther King’s speeches on TV news shows and specials over the past 50 years (okay, we’re revealing how old we are), we never fail to feel a chill run through us when we listen to his words in that distinctive voice and oratorical style that transfixed our nation ever since he first burst onto the scene as a leader of the civil rights movement.
The 1960s were a time of transformation in America that truly are unimaginable to today’s young people, who take for granted that discrimination based upon race, color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation does not exist to anywhere near the extent that it did two generations ago.
And yet, if Dr. King were alive today, wouldn’t he be reminding us that the work to which he devoted his life is far from over? In light of the economic inequality that exists in America in 2014, and that is growing deeper with every passing day, isn’t it obvious that he would be galvanizing support and marching in the streets to promote the concept of dignity for every person on the planet?
Dr. Martin Luther King was only a man, which is to say, like all of us, he was not perfect. But he was a great man, whose legacy continues to remind us that fighting for justice for all must be a never-ending quest in a world where the forces of prejudice, greed, and ignorance continue to exert their power in so many ways