MLK – 50th

August 28th marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.  An event that shook America decidedly.  I have often felt too cliché to admit the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the foremost human beings that I respect. He was one of the first, if not the first persons that I became inspired by, as a young child.  I can still recall that day in kindergarten when we learned to write Dr. King’s iconic line, “I have a dream,” and colored in black-and-white printouts of him. (I’m pretty sure I chose blue or indigo crayon.)  He was the first figure that I became intrigued by.  What does one do to make him/herself celebrated and revered, decades after his death.  Only years later would I come to begin to understand Dr. King’s dream and his dedication to that dream.  Thinking about the movement that he was a part of and led demonstrates powerfully by example, the strength of human spirit.  Every time I think about the Civil Rights Movement and other similar events that have occurred in the world, I become reimbued with belief in humanity and of an innate existence of justice, rather than mere narrow short-sighted self-interests.