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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States, and he has become a human rights icon: King is recognized as a martyr by two Christian churches. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history.
In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 1986.
Wikepedia 11/14/09
Running at NIGHT trying to save YOUR SKIN, Fleeing from an army of grown men as a TWELVE YEAR OLD GIRL every night....NO, I can't imagine that!!!
ReplyDeleteBut that's what happens to thousands of children every day and night in Sudan. All this because the Sudanese armed forces and their groups have been killing, raping and abusing the men, women and children of Sudan. This is happening because of hatred. With hatred, there is no love. Too bad, there is not the love that is described by Martin Luther King. He stated that ..."We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who loves is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love." If we can have love back in this country then we can have peace but only if the citizens can forgive what has happened to them and their families. Love and forgiveness are the path to healing.
Excerpt from 1st place Middle School Essay in 2007 by Allyson Panton
A Hidden Heart
ReplyDeleteI come and go
I change like the seasons
A hidden heart can't hide me,
For even misers know who I am
I hint at my appearance
But like your soul,
I remain unseen
Those who hide me, pay the toll
When you accept what you have done
Once you have pestered everyone,
I bring you together.
A family is forever,
Loving you.
No matter what you may do.
Pushing you down
Making you look like a clown
Before friends who laugh
When we split
We were one half
The south the other
To have to struggle for civil rights
Fought by a passionate dreamer
Who was helping me to stop the fights
Excerpt from 1st place Middle School Poetry in 2007 by Leigh Heinbokel