The Meaning of the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
By Coretta Scott King
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday celebrates the life and legacy
of a man who brought hope and healing to America. We commemorate as
well the timeless values he taught us through his example -- the
values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility
and service that so radiantly defined Dr. King';s character and
empowered his leadership. On this holiday, we commemorate the
universal, unconditional love, forgiveness and nonviolence that
empowered his revolutionary spirit.
The King Holiday honors the life and contributions of America's
greatest champion of racial justice and equality, the leader who
not only dreamed of a color-blind society, but who also lead a
movement that achieved historic reforms to help make it a
reality.
The Holiday commemorates America's pre-eminent advocate of
nonviolence --- the man who taught by his example that nonviolent
action is the most powerful, revolutionary force for social change
available to oppressed people in their struggles for
liberation.
This holiday honors the courage of a man who endured harassment,
threats and beatings, and even bombings. We commemorate the man who
went to jail 29 times to achieve freedom for others, and who knew
he would pay the ultimate price for his leadership, but kept on
marching and protesting and organizing anyway.
On the King Holiday, young people learn about the power of
unconditional love even for one's adversaries as a way to fight
injustice and defuse violent disputes. It is a time to show them
the power of forgiveness in the healing process at the
interpersonal as well as international levels.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is not only for celebration and
remembrance, education and tribute, but above all a day of service.
All across America on the Holiday, his followers perform service in
hospitals and shelters and prisons and wherever people need some
help. It is a day of volunteering to feed the hungry, rehabilitate
housing, tutoring those who can't read, mentoring at-risk
youngsters, consoling the broken-hearted and a thousand other
projects for building the beloved community of his dream.
Dr. King once said that we all have to decide whether we "will walk
in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive
selfishness. Life's most persistent and nagging question, he said,
is `what are you doing for others?'" And when Martin talked about
the end of his mortal life in one of his last sermons, on February
4, 1968 in the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, even then he
lifted up the value of service as the hallmark of a full life. "I'd
like somebody to mention on that day Martin Luther King, Jr. tried
to give his life serving others," he said. "I want you to say on
that day, that I did try in my life...to love and serve humanity.
From TheKingCenter.org
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Luther King in the comments below.
