One of my favorites.
Let's stroll down memory lane. When I was in the 2nd grade, there was a school wide competition between all grades during the week of this holiday. You had to write your own version of the "I Have A Dream.." speech. I sat down with Maegan & she helped my write my very own version. Needless to say.. I won! I got to read my speech in front of the entire school.
Fast forward to now. Last semester I had to read MLK's "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
If you haven't read it, stop what you are doing & read it NOW.
If you care anything about your country, equal rights, or are simply a spiritual person then it will do you GOOD. After I read it, my heart was full, broken, empowered, and shattered all in one moment. I couldn't help but feel what MLK was feeling in that moment. What he and so many others went through to fight for what is good & true & right.
MLK was a very spiritual man. He was very strong in his beliefs and church. Throughout the letter he makes many biblical references. There is one in particular that still sticks out to me...
He is explaining that he is sitting in jail for being an extremist. At first, he is very offended by this term because generally being an extremist is termed as something negative. He talks about Jesus Christ crucifixion when he died on Calvary Hill with 2 other men. They all died being EXTREMISTS. Two men died for immortality, but Jesus died because he was an extremist for LOVE, ACCEPTANCE, GOODNESS, & TRUTH. People were threatened by that and ultimately took his life because of it.
I don't know about you, but this man is one of the greatest men to have lived in my book. There is still so much progress to be made & we have so many examples that have marked the way before us.
"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed."
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