The Anniversary of Uplifting Leadership: Look Back and Learn

It was six and a half years ago that I featured a book with the title associated with this date, August 28, 1963. 

"I HAVE A DREAM..."

Those iconic words are irrevocably associated with a leader who inspired a nation to become "woke" about truths long ignored. Click on the start of Martin Luther King's quote above for a link that lets you hear a recording of his speech and provides other useful background sources. 

I'm old enough to remember the day of the march well. I wasn't there, but I was active in the movement locally and that day, that public response, that speech, shifted the air around us as a nation. I felt it.

Did it change every mind? 

No.

Did laws change overnight?

Of course not.

But laws did change, eventually, and that changed MY life. For those to whom all of this is ancient history, I invite you to read one of my earliest posts about why working for racial justice also served my own needs, goals, and future, HERE. I tend to limit my begging to serving kids or charitable needs, but if you have no clue about why a white, middle class teen girl in the sixties would have reasons to care about Civil Rights, I'm begging you to PLEASE read that post.

To learn more about the many years of struggle and suffering (and unsuccessful attempts) that preceded the amazing march fifty-six years ago, you should check out a book I reviewed on my own website, HERE.  It's a biography of Bayard Rustin, TROUBLEMAKER FOR JUSTICE. 

School resumes and teachers of every age are actively addressing "No bullying" rules, stressing the power of standing up rather than standing by. Kids today witness attacks and bullying displayed by their president on a daily basis. They sense that even our laws (and rules) can support bullying of a social sort. They are aware of protests about many worthy causes (and other causes far from worthy). They've lived every year of their lives and taken every breath in their lives in a  world of pollution and warming climate, protests echoing in their ears, with no evidence of positive change. They can't be blamed if they've become jaded, convinced that a protest is no more than an "activity" or flashmob, a social event that will make no changes. 

But they also live in a time in which they can take for granted integrated schools, workplaces, buses, and restaurants. They see candidates and elected officials (even a president!) of every ethnicity and gender. The many years in which that was not true are unknown or forgotten. 

They can't be blamed if this nation went straight from slavery to Civil Rights. They need to learn that story.

History.

Our story. 

THEIR story.

In this post I am not sharing a new title, but urging readers to check out past posts I've linked, check the pages tab on the right margin of this page for other MLK titles, and otherwise bring the past to life- for yourselves, for young people, and for all our sakes. Kids are always my beacon of hope for the future, but it is our responsibility to light a few lamps that clarify our past, providing evidence that even slow change is change worth pursuing.

Help the next generations DREAM, and work to make dreams come true.