"We Shall Overcome" Reflections on MLK Day 2010
Cross-posted from myImpact.org
Listening again to Dr. King's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech, a ritual that I try to maintain each year, I am struck yet again at the relevance and applicability to our country, and our world, today- nearly 50 years later. The speech proclaims mass inequities in society- what should be clearly seen injustices but resists what may have been the tempting option of retaliation and instead proposes a solution embedded within the beliefs of non-violence.
"Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred," King said, "We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline."
Today, on the national holiday that has become a day of service, thousands of Americans will gather in their local communities around our country. Some will identify problems and brainstorm with others a collaborative solution. Others will work to implement a solution to a problem that has long been identified. Some will volunteer for the first time. For others, it will be the latest installment in their volunteering journal. In all cases, Americans will be united in service.
Our nation today still faces mass injustices and inequities. The legacy of Dr. King is often referenced when talking about education reform, voting rights and economic recovery. Schools in New York are different than those in Mississippi. Public hospitals in Washington state treat patients differently than those in South Carolina. A voter might feel that his vote really makes a difference in the fourth ward of Columbus, Ohio- but in Washington, DC, the nation's capital, the sentiment is different. At the macro level, the problems our country faces in the economy, education, health care, the environment and obesity- to name just a few- seem daunting and unfixable.
But the dream of Dr. King lives on, though the volunteering and service of every American who will pick up a paintbrush, tutor a child, plan a neighborhood event or pick up litter from a sidewalk today. We are all working on our micro-community scales, whether independently or through a non-profit organization, to develop and implement solutions to national challenges. For any one of these issues, Americans can (and do) march on Washington, exercising their Constitutional rights to petition their elected official for grievances. But what Dr. King was saying in 1963 is a lesson equally as instilled in our American legacy: when we see a problem we must then make ourselves part of the solution.
Service is part of that solution. The number of volunteers grew last year and is on pace to do so again. The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, one of the first pieces of legislation signed by President Obama, recognizes the urgent need to organize and deploy the human capital of Americans who chose to serve- and authorizes up to 250,000 AmeriCorps positions over the next five years. Entities from across society are joining forces in this movement of service- corporations, non-profits, foundations, individuals, cities, states, and small towns.
Today, we unite in service guided by the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to answer the dream of his time, and our time: a day when equality and justice reign from the mountaintops and the valleys. We do so knowing that the greatest potential to grow this movement lies within each and every one of us. Just as Dr. King's is to so many of us, our own stories of service- of our unique volunteer experience- can be the inspiring force to engage even more Americans in joining our cause and giving back.
In 1963, Dr. King proclaimed his dream. In 2010, let us recommit ourselves to hearing it again and working in our own ways towards developing national solutions. Engaging all Americans, we shall overcome.
Listening again to Dr. King's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech, a ritual that I try to maintain each year, I am struck yet again at the relevance and applicability to our country, and our world, today- nearly 50 years later. The speech proclaims mass inequities in society- what should be clearly seen injustices but resists what may have been the tempting option of retaliation and instead proposes a solution embedded within the beliefs of non-violence.
"Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred," King said, "We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline."
Today, on the national holiday that has become a day of service, thousands of Americans will gather in their local communities around our country. Some will identify problems and brainstorm with others a collaborative solution. Others will work to implement a solution to a problem that has long been identified. Some will volunteer for the first time. For others, it will be the latest installment in their volunteering journal. In all cases, Americans will be united in service.
Our nation today still faces mass injustices and inequities. The legacy of Dr. King is often referenced when talking about education reform, voting rights and economic recovery. Schools in New York are different than those in Mississippi. Public hospitals in Washington state treat patients differently than those in South Carolina. A voter might feel that his vote really makes a difference in the fourth ward of Columbus, Ohio- but in Washington, DC, the nation's capital, the sentiment is different. At the macro level, the problems our country faces in the economy, education, health care, the environment and obesity- to name just a few- seem daunting and unfixable.
But the dream of Dr. King lives on, though the volunteering and service of every American who will pick up a paintbrush, tutor a child, plan a neighborhood event or pick up litter from a sidewalk today. We are all working on our micro-community scales, whether independently or through a non-profit organization, to develop and implement solutions to national challenges. For any one of these issues, Americans can (and do) march on Washington, exercising their Constitutional rights to petition their elected official for grievances. But what Dr. King was saying in 1963 is a lesson equally as instilled in our American legacy: when we see a problem we must then make ourselves part of the solution.
Service is part of that solution. The number of volunteers grew last year and is on pace to do so again. The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, one of the first pieces of legislation signed by President Obama, recognizes the urgent need to organize and deploy the human capital of Americans who chose to serve- and authorizes up to 250,000 AmeriCorps positions over the next five years. Entities from across society are joining forces in this movement of service- corporations, non-profits, foundations, individuals, cities, states, and small towns.
Today, we unite in service guided by the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to answer the dream of his time, and our time: a day when equality and justice reign from the mountaintops and the valleys. We do so knowing that the greatest potential to grow this movement lies within each and every one of us. Just as Dr. King's is to so many of us, our own stories of service- of our unique volunteer experience- can be the inspiring force to engage even more Americans in joining our cause and giving back.
In 1963, Dr. King proclaimed his dream. In 2010, let us recommit ourselves to hearing it again and working in our own ways towards developing national solutions. Engaging all Americans, we shall overcome.
Labels: MLK Day, myImpact.org, National Service
posted by Chris Golden @ 12:21 AM
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