A Reflection on Martin Luther King Jr.
By Alice Hu
I recently attended a roundtable discussion about King’s legacy. During the discussion, we watched a video that showed a different side of Martin Luther King Jr. His friends were interviewed and their comments and memories of him revealed a man who had many passions and someone who was quite the ladies man.
I was shocked to hear his friends talk about him in such a candid way that was refreshing and reminded me that Martin Luther King Jr. was not just an activist, but he was also a father, a husband, a friend and a son.
When we think of Martin Luther King Jr., we think of someone who was brave and courageous, a person who embodies the civil rights movement. We view him like a hero and most of the time we don’t necessarily think of him as an actual person, instead we think about his contributions to society. We often idolize people who are iconic and forget that they lived normal lives.
Martin Luther King Jr. made a profound impact on our society and continues to inspire people around the world. Aside from remembering what type of person he was, we should also consider what his legacy means in the twenty-first century, especially for Generation Y-ers.
Globalization has pushed members of Generation Y to become global citizens. Not only do we need to be active members in our community, but also we need to contribute to the rest of the world. One of the biggest challenges we face is to truly understand other cultures and people of other culture’s reasoning for their actions. We also cannot turn away from social and human rights injustices.
To continue King’s legacy we will need to fight for justice through peaceful means. Many Generation Y-ers have had the opportunity to have studied abroad or worked abroad. Living and working in a foreign country provides invaluable insights and reveals the need for us to not just understand America, but other countries. At the very least, we must try to understand that we now live in a world where it is more apparent than ever that everyone is connected and one country’s or one person’s actions can change the world forever.
Image: via santom
Thanks for the post, it's a great reminder of how human our society's greatest leaders are. The recent tragedy in Haiti is especially poignant and shows us just how privileged we are to live in the developed world, hopefully, like MLK we might find the strength to ask ourselves some really hard questions about what we need to do to stand together and root out injustice.