I regret to say that I never met Dr. King. But I participated in the March on Washington in 1963, when he gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. It was one of the greatest days in American history, a day that marked a major turning of the tide, a day led by civil rights groups in alliance with labor unions and religious groups, a day that marked the beginning of a new era in American society, when black Americans claimed full citizenship rights, silent no more. No one was more important on that day than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose words rang out across the nation and the world

In honor of his birthday, I am linking to that speech ( here is a YouTube video of the March and speech) and also to his famous “Letter from a Birmingham City Jail.”

Dr. King was a brilliant man with a wide range of knowledge. He wrote and spoke with unparalleled moral power and left us with a lasting legacy.

Here is a quote provided by one of our readers, which is relevant to our lives today and tomorrow:

“Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles;
Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances.
Courage breeds creativity; Cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it.
Cowardice asks the question, is it safe?
Expediency ask the question, is it politic?
Vanity asks the question, is it popular?

But conscience ask the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.”