Why you did not get mail today.
Someone asked me today, "Why do we celebrate Martin Luther King day?"
His question was of sincere curiosity and had no malice. He just wanted to know. "I mean," he went on. "Wasn't it Rosa Parks who started the whole thing? Why don't we celebrate her?"
Rosa Parks was only the spark, the ignition of many factors that were already moving. The Civil Rights Movement, out of their many members at that time, chose Martin Luther King Jr as their front man. It was he who rallied the Afro-Americans into a single voice, first by boycotting the bus company that had Rosa Parks arrested, then by boycotting many stores and companies who supported segregation. He charged the movement, give it life at the risk of his own life. He faced death threats on a daily basis, and was even stabbed in the chest. He was scrutinized by the government, spied on, wire taped. He suffered through the hatred of millions.
He devoted all of his time to the cause, leading from the front against fire hoses and dogs and vicious beatings. He endured the danger and unlike some so called leaders who send people into harms way, he stood in harms way. His voice of passive resistance won him a Nobel Peace Prize.
Before his time no one has been able to rally so many to a just cause. Since his murder, no one has been able to generate the unity in the black community such as he did. Would the Civil Rights Movement have existed with out him? Yes. Would it have changed the way America treated blacks? That's a question I can't answer. What I can answer is that Martin Luther King did something that so few have ever done.
Made this a better place for everyone to live in.
If that's not a good reason for a holiday, I don't know what is.
His question was of sincere curiosity and had no malice. He just wanted to know. "I mean," he went on. "Wasn't it Rosa Parks who started the whole thing? Why don't we celebrate her?"
Rosa Parks was only the spark, the ignition of many factors that were already moving. The Civil Rights Movement, out of their many members at that time, chose Martin Luther King Jr as their front man. It was he who rallied the Afro-Americans into a single voice, first by boycotting the bus company that had Rosa Parks arrested, then by boycotting many stores and companies who supported segregation. He charged the movement, give it life at the risk of his own life. He faced death threats on a daily basis, and was even stabbed in the chest. He was scrutinized by the government, spied on, wire taped. He suffered through the hatred of millions.
He devoted all of his time to the cause, leading from the front against fire hoses and dogs and vicious beatings. He endured the danger and unlike some so called leaders who send people into harms way, he stood in harms way. His voice of passive resistance won him a Nobel Peace Prize.
Before his time no one has been able to rally so many to a just cause. Since his murder, no one has been able to generate the unity in the black community such as he did. Would the Civil Rights Movement have existed with out him? Yes. Would it have changed the way America treated blacks? That's a question I can't answer. What I can answer is that Martin Luther King did something that so few have ever done.
Made this a better place for everyone to live in.
If that's not a good reason for a holiday, I don't know what is.