Martin Luther King, Jr.: Arousing the Conscience of the Community

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968) would have been 84 on Jan. 15, 2013. Unfortunately his birthday has been turned into a three-day weekend by being recognized as a federal holiday observed on the third Monday of January of each year. The moral leader of our country deserves better.

If alive today, I believe Dr. King would be calling for justice for all people living in the US regardless of color, nationality, sexual orientation, age, economic status, physical or mental disability or legal status as defined by ICE. He would be insisting that hunger in America is a crime committed by our government, that education is a debt today's generation owes tomorrow's generation, and that health care is a human right that cannot be brokered by congressional "reforms".

If alive today, Dr. King would be preaching that Justice with a capital "J" can be realized in the American legal system. And, if alive today, he would be arousing the conscience of the nation to achieve the dream by overcoming the obstacles of injustice to reach the mountain top. [JH]

 "I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law. " -- Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

[JH]

"I Have a Dream" speech delivered at the March on Washington, DC on August 28, 1963.