We have encountered Dr. Martin Luther King’s speeches countless times through television news broadcasts and special programs over the past 50 years—a detail that perhaps betrays our age—yet his words never fail to move us. His distinctive voice and oratorical style continue to resonate with the power that captivated the nation when he emerged as a civil rights movement leader.
The 1960s represented a period of profound transformation in America that today’s younger generation can scarcely comprehend. They live in a world where discrimination rooted in race, color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation exists to a far lesser degree than it did two generations prior, a reality many now take as given.
Should Dr. King still be with us today, would he not point out that his life’s work remains incomplete? Given the economic inequality that persists and deepens throughout America in 2014, would he not be mobilizing people and taking to the streets to advocate for the dignity of every human being on Earth?
Dr. Martin Luther King was simply a man, meaning he shared the imperfections common to all humanity. Yet he was undeniably great, and his legacy endures as a powerful reminder that the pursuit of justice for all people must continue without end in a world where prejudice, greed, and ignorance maintain their destructive influence in countless forms.