Reflecting on the lasting legacy left by Dr. King

When you hear the name Martin Luther King Jr. what comes to your mind first? Civil rights leader, Baptist minister, a man with a dream are a few that come to my mind. A dream of equality in a land filled with segregation and racism during the turbulent 1950s and 60s. A very tall order to fulfill and yet he pulled it off. The price paid was equally high with his life by an assassin’s bullet in 1968.

I was just a small boy when all this was going down. (I was 7 when he died.) We just had our first taste of racism and segregation in Louisiana in ’67. It was a bitter vile taste that would leave a lasting impression on myself and my family for years to come. We left there after only six months for Ohio. (We moved a lot in those days — nine moves in 11 years.) So Dr. King had a major influence upon me in his cause to end segregation and push for equal rights for all. His words and actions would inspire not only a small boy but many in positions of great power for the good of the nation.

His sacrifice would help put an end to the evils of segregation and further the cause of racial equality. He didn’t do it with a bomb. He didn’t do it with a gun. He didn’t do it with hate speech. He did it with nonviolence. Techniques and tactics he learned from the teachings of Jesus Christ and Mohandas Gandhi. He wrote about it in his book “Stride Toward Freedom.” He devoted an entire chapter entitled “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence” and taught his supporters to use them. They worked in most of his marches even when those opposing him and the cause for equality would use the worse of violence against them. Such as the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. It was a failed and aborted attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama. It ended when the police and an angry mob turned in brutal fashion on the marchers. And it was all caught on camera that sparked outrage across the country as it played out on national TV. Hundreds were injured and even arrested for their stand on voting rights in the region.

But that was a turning point in the civil rights movement because it got the attention of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Dr. King met with officials from his administration for a request of an injunction against any prosecution of the demonstrators. This support helped in King’s efforts to reorganize a new attempt at pulling off a peaceful march. On March 25,1965 he and hundreds of supporters successfully marched from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. Dr.King spoke on the capital steps stating that equal rights for African Americans was not far away, “… because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

This was just one example of the man’s drive to secure equal rights for not only people of color, but for all Americans regardless of race, religion or creed. It is something to be admired even emulated especially in today;s political madness. The more I read about his life the more intrigued I get. Those were pretty heady times with so much going on. Civil rights, Woman’s rights, the counterculture and the war in Vietnam had people of all walks of life involved one way or another. Of course I was a little on the young side to take part in any of that back then. My involvement, small as it was, with civil rights would come many years later writing articles in support of gay rights and same sex marriage.

I had good inspiration in the form of Martin Luther King Jr., a prime example achieving great things through peaceful means. I wasn’t the only one either, many learned the lessons taught by King in the years during his life and after his death. Lessons I believe many of our so-called leaders have forgotten in their current quests for power. Replacing them with fear, anger, ignorance and bigotry. In a couple of cases I seriously doubt if they were even taught any decency at all. I wonder what Dr King would think of them if he suddenly appeared on the scene today. I sure would love to know his take on events in 21st century America. Not to mention the fact he has a huge statue and a federal holiday all to himself this Monday. Now I would really love to know his opinion about that too.

We have come a long way from those turbulent, trouble filled days when he was alive. His quest to make sure his children — indeed all that would come after him — would be judged not by the color of their skin, the clothes they wear, the faith they keep, the gender of who they marry, but by the content of their character continues today.

Daniel D. Grota is a retired U.S. Army veteran with over 21 years in service. He is also a Tuesday morning co-host on KVRF 89.5 FM, Radio Free Palmer. Write to him at news@frontiersman.com.