Martin Luther King

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation." These words attributed to President Kennedy surely applied to a man of his own generation, Martin Luther King.

Today we pause to reflect and remember what one man did to change a nation and its conscience. To some it is not remembered and to others it seems so long ago and out of place that it can now be dismissed. The reference is to the social injustice and inequality that characterized this country during King's life. Black people were segregated from whites in so many of our states. They could not eat at the same lunch counters, use the same bathrooms, be educated in the same public schools. They were hunted down by lawless gangs and murdered for acts judged disrespectful to whites.

Dr. King forced an entire nation to reflect upon it's own fabric and conduct at great personal risk to himself and his family. He is remembered for many stirring speeches and sermons but none perhaps so moving and eloquent as his "I have a dream" speech in Washington DC in April of 1963. "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".

These were the words of a prophet who courageously demanded justice in his contemporary world. He stood in defiance of those who practiced injustice and who defamed the cause he tried to represent. He paid with his life.

There are few we can point to in these last 100 years whose acts and inspiration did more to change this nation than Martin Luther King. Today is a good day to remember that the freedoms we take for granted come at a great price in part, paid for by people of tremendous courage and conviction. It is a day to measure just how much these freedoms were challenged and ultimately embraced by a nation, much of which was blinded by intolerance and indifference.