Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In addition to being a world-renowned, non-violent civil rights leader, Dr.. Martin Luther King, Jr., authored four books::
- Why We Can’t Wait
- The Measure of a Man
- Strength to Love
- Where Do We Go from Here
Quotes from his books and speeches have inspired, motivated, guided and calmed me for more than fifty years.
This morning when I heard the verdict rendered against the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri, I thought about this quote:
In 1963, I heard Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech for the first time. As I watched the March on Washington and two active toddlers determined to pull my attention away from our 12 inch black and white television; I thought, unlike me, my toddlers one day will “be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.” I believed Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement would make the dream come true. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.
As I head into 2015, I feel there is a strong possibility my three grandsons (ages 24, 18 and 14) will be judged by the color of their skin. And, it is possible, the poor judgment of a police officer expected to protect, but instead might reject because of the color of their skin and this could mean death.