In observance of the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., today is a government holiday in the U.S. I'm quite sure this video or portions of it will be getting a lot of air time but that's not a bad thing. The man had a message.
He speaks of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Of their failure to apply to everyone in this nation. Here we stand 45 years later and it seems that we are in danger of the Declaration and the Constitution applying to no one.
He dreamed of a day when people would be judged not by the color of their skin by by the content of their character. Here we stand 45 years later unable to fulfill that dream because there seem to be so damn few people of CHARACTER around to judge. People are happy today to be mindless sheep following the person with the nicest hair, or the best 15 second sound bite, or the one that didn't show any emotion, or the one that showed too much. The one that's the right color, or the right gender, or - my personal favorite - the right religion and loudest holy book thumper. People today don't know what character is. It's been so long since they've seen anybody that has it.
Rev. King was speaking in the 1960's about the issue of American Civil Rights. But there is a larger message. Some issues transcend time and location. I've copied some of his quotes below. They could've been spoken today.
"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
"A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan."
"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
"The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood."
"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted."
I too have a dream. Free thinking people of character that are guided by principles.
UPDATE
Here is an Associated Press article that points out just how complex and UNpopular Dr. King was when he was alive. Something that "creatively maladjusted" "disciplined nonconformists" seem to have in common with one another. Popular view of King ignores complexity.
