“Martin Luther King defined, for America and the world, the power of belief in the simple idea of equality and he brought it to life in the villages of the 20th-century America.”
Our Quote of the Week honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s commitment to the belief that all human beings, regardless of who they are, what they look like, and where they come from, should be treated fairly and have equal access to the rights and opportunities that allow them to thrive. Dr. King’s ability to turn that belief into action has mobilized people for generations, and we draw on it now as we celebrate his life and legacy in preparation for Martin Luther King Day this coming Monday.
Dr. King was born 96 years ago this week, on January 15, 1929. He and Sargent Shriver were contemporaries, and even though they led very different lives, they had important things in common: both worked on ending segregation, advancing civil rights, and abolishing poverty; and each of them worked with President Lyndon Johnson to ensure that the values they held most dear, peace, economic opportunity, and equality, would be codified in the policies of the nation.
The importance Sargent Shriver placed on Dr. King’s beliefs is evident in his 1999 Graduate School Commencement Speech at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. In the speech, Sargent Shriver makes a fiery appeal to his audience. He tells them, quite simply, to go out into the world and to build long-term peace. In this context, he challenges them to believe in their power to “bring justice to people in our country and in every corner of the world.” To motivate them about the power of believing, he gives the example of Dr. King.
As we honor the life and accomplishments of Dr. King this week, we pledge to uphold his belief, indeed his dream, “that that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” King’s belief is going to be particularly important to embrace in this moment, as a new administration takes office with the intention of making cuts to our social safety net and eliminating policies that encourage diversity, equity, and inclusion.
As we enter this new chapter in our history, we commit to amplifying and supporting all those who share Dr. King’s belief and who continue the work that he started. May we all have the courage to put our beliefs into action so that we may realize the long-term peace that Sargent Shriver worked for and that Dr. King envisioned with his notion of the “Beloved Community.”
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