Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Just another day off schools, another three day weekend, another day the mail doesn’t run. Just another day attached to a name very few people actually think about. Perhaps it bears a little reminding that Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn’t just a famous man, a pastor or a leader. He was all of these things and more. He received a doctorate from Boston University. He became a pastor when he was twenty five years old, blending together his acquired knowledge, his innate knowledge and his faith into the words and actions of a non-violent supporter of the civil rights movement.

He was a man that conferred with Presidents, led 250,000 protesters in peaceful demonstration, and headed several organizations that furthered the civil rights movements. He was the youngest man to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 when he was just 35 years old. He was a man with a dream for all races, who wanted nothing more than a place for his children “where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

He was a man who stood on a balcony April 4, 1968 enjoying the warm Spring Memphis air before he was to lead a protest supporting striking African American garbage workers where he was assassinated. He was a man killed for his passionate beliefs in freedom.

He is now a man that puts a face to the movement of equality. According to Derek Alderman of East Carolina University, as of 2006 over 730 American Cities have a street named after him. Federal Law observes his birthday as the third Monday of January, in effect since its first official observation January 20, 1986. He is still a man that stands for equality and justice and a peaceful approach to obtaining both.

He will always be a man with a dream.

Posted by:  Jennifer McClarney

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