"The world is but a canvas to our imagination."
~ Henry David Thoreau
Yesterday was Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, which has been a national holiday now here in the United States for over 30 years.
While I posted two things on MLK, it seemed appropriate to publish one more thing today, even though yesterday was the official holiday. Hey, he was actually born on January 15th, so that should probably be the day that we recognize as a holiday. And besides, we should remember his legacy every single day, frankly. Especially in these times, where mindlessness, hatred, and arrogance seem, once again, to be marching in triumph.
MLK was influenced by another man I have long held in very high regard. That would be Henry David Thoreau.
Now, I have posted plenty about both men over the years. But it seemed fitting today to post a blog entry with MLK talking specifically about the influence which Thoreau had on him.
Enjoy:
"During my student days I read Henry David Thoreau's essay 'Civil Disobedience' for the first time. Here, in this courageous New Englander's refusal to pay his taxes and his choice of jail rather than support a war that would spread slavery's territory into Mexico, I made my first contact with the theory of nonviolent resistance...I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good...Whether expressed in a sit-in at lunch counters, a freedom ride into Mississippi, a peaceful protest in Albany, Georgia, a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, these are outgrowths of Thoreau's insistence that evil must be resisted and that no moral man can patiently adjust to injustice."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
It also seemed appropriate to add a link to MLK's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance speech, which is quite inspiring.
Enjoy:
Martin Luther King Jr. Acceptance speech
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1964/king/acceptance-speech/
Martin Luther King Jr. – Acceptance Speech - NobelPrize.org
A picture of my son in front of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, taken back in the spring of 2013 for the Cherry Blossom Festival.
No comments:
Post a Comment