Friday, April 4, 2008

Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s death. Every good-hearted human being since owes him a debt of gratitude. Widely hailed as a hero from U2 to Jesse Jackson, King had charisma and integrity unequalled in modern times.
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What would it have been like to have known this man? To have had the opportunity to spend some time with him and to learn from him. With refrains in his speeches that mirror the good old-fashioned church homily he commanded the attention of the world, changing it irrevocably.
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I must admit to being in awe of this man, and perhaps that needs to be reigned in; admiration and the deepest respect certainly for his courage and steadfastness to give his life for the cause of righteousness, justice and equity.
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When King was shot dead at around 6 p.m. on the 4th of April, 1968 and he was pronounced dead an hour later, it sent the nation into deep rage with riots in over 100 cities, such was the sheer anger and harrowing heartache experienced.
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King’s spirit lives on however. Having not achieved all of what he dreamt of, America, the Western world, and the entire global population has not experienced the full extent of his desire; for every person to walk free and stand to be counted. Let freedom ring indeed...
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The “I have a dream” speech is perhaps his most well known; oh, how good it would have been to have been at the Lincoln Memorial that day, August 28, 1963. Over to Dr. King as he preaches ‘Let freedom ring’:
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And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,
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"Free at last, free at last.
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Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
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© Copyright 2008, Steven John Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

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