15 years of rickymay blog
January 20, 2003
you do not have to accommodate ignorance
Happy Martin Luther King day.
I head a student group called Amnesty International at Georgia State University. We’re a local chapter of an international Human Rights organization. Today is one of my favorite holidays because it reminds me of the importance of human rights. It reminds me to consider some of the freedoms I normally take for granted. I don’t have to wear a badge that says I’m a Polish-American. I don’t have to avoid my local grocery store because they won’t serve Catholics. The college that I choose to attend will not reject my application because I’m a white male. May seem ridiculous to mention these things but these things have happened to people right here at home and they still happen in places all over the world today.
It takes courage and strength to stand against a popular idea. Dr. King raised world awareness of an idea that is rooted in ignorance. Seems like a simple thing to do–call a bad idea a bad idea, but Dr. King was murdered for it and many others have suffered. Here, in the land of the free and home of the brave, King became the leading symbol of those who were brave enough to speak out so that we could all truly be free. Dr. King could have been speaking for the
African, the Jew, the woman, or even the Polish Catholic, either way he did not accommodate ignorance, regardless of its popularity, he didn’t just sit down and shut up. He stood up and spoke and rightfully the whole world listened.
Take time today to reflect on the human rights violations that continue to plague our wonderful world. The work of Martin King did not start or end with Martin King. He became the symbol of a movement that has existed for a long time and will continue to exist, in this country and around the world. The life of Dr. King continues to inspire people like me to pursue the dream where the rights I enjoy every day are shared by all people on this planet–all members of our human family. Don’t accommodate ignorance; don’t sit down and shut up. Let the life and death of Dr. King inspire you to stand and speak out against injustice.
There’s a webcast of some of the goings-on at Ebenezer Baptist Church here in Atlanta this week.
http://www.broadcasturban.net/webcast/kingcenter/
(http://www.broadcasturban.net/webcast/kingcenter/)
Amnesty International makes it easy for you to STAND. You can make a difference without leaving your home!
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?ms=H1
(http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?ms=H1)
Aloha,
rickymay
Posted by rickymay at 09:15 PM