still today: for Martin Luther King Jr.

Many of us have the day free from work and it's easy to forget the reason we're enjoying a three day weekend.  I like the peaceful, passionate message that MLK Jr. brought to us in the 1960s and enjoy his wonderful oratory skills, which we are lucky enough to still enjoy today with thanks to places like youtube.

I deeply value equality in this world, and spend my days working to end educational inequity.  There is still deep inequality in our country and world, in particular our educational system, especially between students of color and white students. I truly believe, and put so much of my energy toward, ending this new form of racism that permeates our society today.  Thus, this snippet from Martin Luther King's famous speech resonates with me:

"...one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land."

What I am LOVING about this year's MLK Day is this local story from my NPR station that I listen to.  I heard this on the way home on Thursday, and I had chills.  I hope you'll click the link and listen to local Washington DC students repeat King's famous speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

MLK Speech Comes Alive Through Students

Hope you get to enjoy this day, and remember the deep injustices and discrimination that exist, even today, fifty years after King's peaceful demonstration.