Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!!

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction...The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation." Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength To Love speech, 1963

Hello, everybody. =)  This is just a quick post that I wanted to do as I reflect and honor the life and work of a great American.  When we are kids, we learn to celebrate every holiday and its meaning, but as we get older, we (or at least I) tend to think more along the lines of "Yes! Holiday! Long weekend! What should I do on my day off?" and then we get bombarded with "Happy [insert name here] Holiday! Shop our [insert name here] Holiday Sale!" messages, haha.



I'm not saying that to point fingers because obviously I am often guilty of that myself.  But...I'd like to change that.  MLKJ is one of the holidays that has profound meaning for Americans and is pretty much undisputable in my book (you can't say its origin was intended for something else, like with Christmas and Valentine's Day, for example).

As part of the minority, which in the U.S. means anyone who is not a wealthy white male, we are able to enjoy lives of opportunity and equality because of those like Martin Luther King, Jr. who fought against oppression and adversity in the Civil Rights Movement.  At the least, Mr. King, Jr. makes me want to be a better person, a hardworking and enduring person, an appreciative person who has compassion for others.



You can read his Biography and watch his full "I Have a Dream" speech, which was his most famous speech.  You can also read the full speech.



One of my personal favorite quotes is "Be the change you wish to see in the world" from Ghandi, and I think Martin Luther King, Jr. is a perfect example of someone who truly lived that way.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!! =)