Spring Break
Never forget Martin Luther King's message of peace
Matt Schirano
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: Ed-Op
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It's easy to lose large stretches of time in life. Right now, we are all busy in school or at work, and are partying as hard as we can so we can get our money's worth in this place. This term has followed suit, flying by so fast I haven't even had time to figure out a countdown until the end of the term.
Unfortunately, a lot of things get missed when you're trying to keep your head above water. There never seems to be time to smell the roses, admire a skyscraper being built before your very eyes, or just take a step back and realize you're even living life at all. As February comes to a close, so does Black History Month. March is Women's History Month, and quickly the shuffle of life will sweep us away until before you know it, February has come again.
Martin Luther King Jr. has a holiday in January, and is rightly celebrated throughout the month, but he is much less celebrated during the rest of the year. While it would be overboard to focus on it all the time, it is a shame that Black History Month is limited to the shortest month of the year.
His message aimed to erase racial segregation and animosity, but it was not a message strictly for the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He imagined a peace that spread farther than America, a peace that could unite the human race and propel us to a higher moral and intellectual ground.
I believe that when we limit our celebration of his life and message to only Black History Month, we miss the larger picture. His focus was on the immediate, so his work was manifested in the racial oppression of the time, but what would he have done if he hadn't been killed? If the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was not the only major legislative change he saw before his death, where would he have taken his drive next?
Dr. King's actions may have been limited to the minimal time he was given, but his aspirations were for a much broader peace, a unity of all kinds. We need to understand the power he showed us love has, and utilize it ourselves. If one man like Dr. King can change so much using only his love, commitment and intelligence, then the masses can achieve exponentially more if we exert the same refusal to be denied and courage to face those who would violently see you refused.
Unfortunately, a lot of things get missed when you're trying to keep your head above water. There never seems to be time to smell the roses, admire a skyscraper being built before your very eyes, or just take a step back and realize you're even living life at all. As February comes to a close, so does Black History Month. March is Women's History Month, and quickly the shuffle of life will sweep us away until before you know it, February has come again.
Martin Luther King Jr. has a holiday in January, and is rightly celebrated throughout the month, but he is much less celebrated during the rest of the year. While it would be overboard to focus on it all the time, it is a shame that Black History Month is limited to the shortest month of the year.
His message aimed to erase racial segregation and animosity, but it was not a message strictly for the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He imagined a peace that spread farther than America, a peace that could unite the human race and propel us to a higher moral and intellectual ground.
I believe that when we limit our celebration of his life and message to only Black History Month, we miss the larger picture. His focus was on the immediate, so his work was manifested in the racial oppression of the time, but what would he have done if he hadn't been killed? If the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was not the only major legislative change he saw before his death, where would he have taken his drive next?
Dr. King's actions may have been limited to the minimal time he was given, but his aspirations were for a much broader peace, a unity of all kinds. We need to understand the power he showed us love has, and utilize it ourselves. If one man like Dr. King can change so much using only his love, commitment and intelligence, then the masses can achieve exponentially more if we exert the same refusal to be denied and courage to face those who would violently see you refused.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
brian stiglmeier
posted 3/02/07 @ 1:55 PM EST
Just a historical footnote to Mr Schirano's excellent piece on Dr. King. For someone who was born almost 2 decades after his death, Mr Schirano's understanding and perceptiveness is quite adnirable, not to mention refreshing. (Continued…)
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