Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - 2011

Hello Super-Stars! I hope you are all doing well. Monday is the 25th anniversary of observance of the National Holiday celebrating the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a vital figure of the modern era and a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement. His lectures and dialogues stirred the concern and sparked the conscience of a generation and beyond. His charismatic leadership inspired men and women, young and old, black and white, in this nation and around the world. I often wonder what a difference he, and so many others lost to violence through the years, would have made had they lived...I believe we all make a difference, so I can only imagine the possibilities. However, we are still here...it's our responsibility to continue to promote Civility. Had he lived, he would have been eighty-two years old today...

Following in the footsteps of his father, in February 1948, at the age of 19, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. entered the Christian ministry and was ordained at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. In 1954, upon completion of graduate studies at Boston University, he accepted a call to serve at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. While there, he was an instrumental leader in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, made famous by the nonviolent resistance and arrest of Rosa Parks. He resigned this position in 1959 to move back to Atlanta to direct the activities of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. From 1960 until his death in 1968, he also served as co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Dr. King was arrested 30 times for his participation in civil rights activities.

While Dr. King preached about justice, empowerment, love and peace, in the final months of his life, his attention was turned to fighting poverty. Sadly, more Americans live in poverty today than during Dr. King's lifetime. Forty-seven million Americans currently fall below the poverty line. Dr. King was shot while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee and died on April 4, 1968. He had gone to Memphis to help lead sanitation workers in a protest against low wages and intolerable working conditions.

This blog posting is an informational comment directly from the U.S. Government website: http://mlkday.gov/about/serveonkingday.php (with a few minor edits.) You can also learn more about Dr. King’s life from The King Center website at http://www.thekingcenter.org/

As always, promoting Love, Civility and Peace, is a worthwhile endeavor.

Think - Live - Be - A Super-Star!

With love & light and, much appreciation,
Glenna :-)