Excerpted from a letter Michelle Obama sent out last week to a barackobama.com mailing list. Are you doing anything special today to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy? Leave a comment to let us know. – Sarah B.
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., is usually remembered for his heroic leadership of the civil rights movement — he led the successful Montgomery bus boycott, delivered the “I Have A Dream” speech at a time when such words were still controversial, and ultimately gave his own life to the cause of equality.
But Dr. King was much more than a civil rights champion — he was a man who lived his entire life in service to others, speaking out against poverty, economic injustice, and violence. Wherever he saw suffering, he did what he could to help, no matter who it was that needed him or why they were in pain. Through his leadership, he showed us what we can accomplish when we stand together.
Each January, we remember Dr. King on his own holiday — and one of the best ways to preserve his legacy is to engage in service ourselves. As Dr. King told us, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?'”
This movement is about so much more than politics — it is about coming together through progress, change, and community. Lifting each other up in dedication and service is one of the best ways not only to honor Dr. King, but to honor each other. By giving service a new role in this country, we can establish a new foundation for our economy and a brighter future for our children.
All of us have something to contribute, and all of us can make a meaningful difference in someone’s life. It’s a great way to remind others that they are not forgotten, and to remind ourselves that there are always things we can do.
Thanks,
Michelle
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The Internet Archive at Clement & Funston also picked out some interesting MLK moments to commemorate the day: http://bit.ly/dFvFmI
I celebrate the deification of a man who was all too mortal: a profligate and a plagiarist, but one who was used by providence to change things for the better.
“Did he plagiarize most of his writings? He plagiarized a lot of them. An investigation conducted by Boston University, where King got his Ph.D. in theology, determined that he had appropriated roughly a third of his doctoral thesis from a dissertation written three years earlier by another graduate student. Curiously, the same faculty member had been “first reader” of both theses, leading some to wonder whether King’s faculty advisers at BU were incompetent or just guilty white liberals who gave a promising young black leader a pass. King also “borrowed” portions of many other writings and speeches, including the famous “I have a dream” speech he gave at the 1963 civil rights rally in Washington.”
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2449/was-martin-luther-king-jr-a-plagiarist