After the holidays, we often tend to feel that the next day of importance is Valentine’s Day. This makes sense, as it is the next major commercial holiday, but important days aren’t just what sells the most products or grants the most vacation days. Days focused on our real world, past, present, and future, are also vital. It is for this reason that days like Martin Luther King Junior exist. They are focused on reminding people of our past, and the people who shaped our present, so we can be inspired to shape the future.
Martin Luther King was an activist, as many people know. He most prominently spoke out against racism, fighting the widespread “Jim Crow laws”, a group of laws that prejudiced against African Americans, violating the ideals this nation was founded on. What separated King from other activists of his time was his loud, yet non-violent approach to civil disobedience. However, despite his peaceful nature, he earned many enemies, including the director of the FBI and many political officials. He also did a lot of work to fight poverty and war, but unfortunately, while planning an event known as the “Poor People’s Campaign”, he was assassinated. A man named James Earl Ray was arrested, though a great amount of controversy exists regarding whether he was the true murderer, with even the King family believing he was a scapegoat.
However, even after his death, King’s teachings continued to change the world, and he received many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor a citizen can obtain. It is important to remember that just because the world has improved, we can never stop fighting to make it better. We all can change our nation and the world, as long as we believe in our ability to do so, and hold fast to that belief no matter what. Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t rich or powerful, but he was confident in his abilities, and never let anyone tell him he should give up. Even in the face of his death, he continued to work for good until the very last second. That is the greatest lesson we can take from the life and works of Martin Luther King Jr.
