This week, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., we asked guests and graduates of Family Promise to share their thoughts and reflections on the legacy of Dr. King and his work. These are their responses:
“I believe it’s very significant to celebrate MLK for what he did and what he stood for. To honor his legacy. This day reminds us of how we all need to be better and treat everyone as equals all the time. It’s a reminder that we still have a long way to go to get to what his vision was, but we can see how far we have come. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Stood for unconditional love, forgiveness, and non-violence and every day I work at that and I try to teach my kids this too. I know one day we will all get to a place where he would look down on the world and be proud that he helped to change part of it all.”
“Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday means honoring a man who was both ahead of his time and ahead of his years. He would probably be horrified that we are still fighting this fight for equality instead of pretending that dreaming about is enough.”
“To me, it means freedom, when you are free, you can do anything spiritually, physically, and emotionally, #MLK.”
“The fact that Dr. King’s birthday was made a national holiday means a lot to me, and the type of man he was, and what his heart’s desire was goes a long way. He died for what he believed in, that people just get along with one another. Some made changes and some didn’t, but his heart is my heart and that’s why I don’t mind talking about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
“The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. inspires us to push for a greater society through our actions and especially the work we do with those who have fewer opportunities. It is because of this we are so grateful for volunteers like you.”
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a really good man and I feel like we don’t celebrate him like we did back in the day. When I was in school, we would do research papers about him, read his speeches, did crossword puzzles and colored pictures about him. My kids are not getting to celebrate him like that in school anymore.”
“On MLK day we celebrate and appreciate the life of a wonderful, strong black man who stood up and fought for black lives, because of him we are able to love one another despite the color of our skin.”
“Tomorrow will be the 92nd birthday of the great Martin Luther King Jr and I began to think what this means to me as a black person in this world today. We like to think things has changed but people of color know not much has changed.
MLK fought for equality for all people not just blacks, he believed that all people should be treated equal but unfortunately not everyone felt the same way and he was killed for his effort. This man has been beaten, put in jail and lied on, yet he continued to march for the betterment of people of color first and foremost.
Now a lot of things have changed. We have African Americans in Congress, Senate and President and now a Vice President, yet people of color are being killed by those that are supposed to protect us, it’s like the KKK are back in full force. It’s so sad that people are being killed for the color of their skin, but what else is new?
So, Martin Luther King Jr., it took a long time coming but all your pain, sweat and tears has resulted in some positive changes. Rest in Peace!”
“I wish there was someone like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. here with us today!”
“In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words: ‘WE WILL MEET THE FORCE OF HATE WITH THE POWER OF LOVE!’ “
“Stevie Wonder wrote a beautiful tribute to MLK, some of his words are:
‘We know the key to unity of all people
It’s in the dream that you had so long ago
That lives in all of the hearts of people
That believe in unity
We’ll make the dream become a reality
I know we will
Because our hearts tell us so!’”
“Martin Luther King had an imagination for what the world could be and then set about showing us what he imagined. I think Family Promise does that, too.”
