it was a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land. ..

As I've been sitting here trying to get to sleep, but dying because of dry sinuses..(ewww, I need a frickin' humidifier sooo badly!) I started to reflect on Martin Luther King, and this day that's dedicated to his memory. In one of my first classes at EMU, I had to write a reflection on Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." This piece really touched me greatly, and while I think it's wonderful that so many people spend alot of time studying the "I have a dream" speech, I think people would be so inspired by this piece right now.

In this letter, Dr. King was rebutting an idea that many members of the clergy had; they thought that the fight for civil rights should be left in the courts and taken out of the streets. Dr. King eloquently informed him that he would never call for any violent movement, but there was no way anything was going to change without work from EVERYONE.

Dr. King did not ask us to use violence in any way, he just told us that it was our responsibility to get things done, and basically if you stand and let injustices happen, you're just as guilty as those who commit the crimes. Dr. King told us that civil disobedience justified in the face of unjust laws, but that one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. One of my favorite quotes ever comes from "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and that is this one: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,"


Mr. Obama says it the best:

"it was a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can."


[ps. can we talk about the fact that this is also the last day of GWB and one day until OOOOOOOBAAAAAAAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?!?! I'm feeling really proud and optimistic about this. :)]