It was more than 57 years ago when Dr. Martin Luther King, (MLK)Jr. gave one of the most powerful speeches in history during the March on Washington. In it, he articulated a vision where we could imagine living in a peaceful and equitable nation. More than a half-century after his death, we are still working to pursue that dream.
Introduction
Born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929, Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is still widely recognised as one of the great leaders and orators of modern times. Dr King’s hope and dream was that America and the world could become a just society where race, color and creed would not impact a person’s civil rights. But how has Dr King’s work inspired education and what can modern day educators learn from his work, life and beliefs?
BACKGROUND
Firstly, let’s understand his background, education and where he found his inspiration. Dr King’s education started at a very early age, with his mother, who, as a school teacher, taught him to read before he started school. He never really completed high school; he was so intelligent that he bypassed his first and last year at Booker T. Washington High School and entered college when he was only 15 years old.
Dr King graduated in 1948 from Morehouse College in Atlanta with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. His passion for societal change was evident from a young age; it is believed that he found inspiration from Thoreau’s essay on Civil Disobedience, and this was perhaps his catalyst to reform the landscape of our global society. Dr King spoke about the value of good education and there is much that educators can learn from his wisdom.
MLK FAMOUS 3 QUOTATION ON EDUCATION
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”
The role of the educator is to teach students how to think for themselves, both in-depth and critically. Education is not just about retaining facts; it’s teaching students to appraise and analyze the information they have available and helping them to form their own conclusions.
“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”
In an age of instant gratification and information overload, one where data is so quickly accessible and available (think Google’s Alexa), perhaps more than ever, we need to teach the skill of solid thinking. This means the ability to assimilate various sources of information, and to critique and curate it using our own deep thinking.
“We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind.”
This is a timely reminder that, in an age where we rely so heavily on mobile communication and social media to communicate with others, the need to be taught properly is more vital than ever. We should not judge success by the size of a pay cheque or material goods paraded on social networking sites, but by our ability to cultivate and share our own unique gifts and talents with others.
“As educators, we should take time to reflect on the words of wisdom from Dr King and take these into the classroom. We owe it to the next generation to create a world where think freely, intensely and critically and where success is measured not by material wealth but is achieved by the value of sharing our unique light with others”
Gandhi’s Inspiration to MLK
King first learned of Gandhi’s concept of nonviolence as a seminary student. … “I came to see for the first time that the Christian doctrine of love operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence was one of the most potent weapons available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom,”
King was already familiar with peaceful civil disobedience through American writers like Henry David Thoreau, and he liked Gandhi’s idea that oppressed people could use truth or love as weapons in their struggle for justice. But he didn’t find a practical application for how to put it to use until he became involved in the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 and ‘56
In his 1958 book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, King laid out the principles of nonviolence he’d employed during the boycott. He affirmed that it is possible to resist evil without resorting to violence and to oppose evil itself without opposing the people committing evil. He also wrote that people who practice nonviolence must be willing to suffer without retaliation, internal or external: “The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent but he also refuses to hate him.
Powerful Speech – ““I Have a Dream”
The best-laid plans are often better off ignored — at least that was the case with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.
Widely regarded as one of the world’s most “transformative and influential” speeches alongside Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Gettysburg Address and Winston Churchill’s 1940 “Blood, toil, tears and sweat” speech, the impact of King’s words that hot summer afternoon in Washington, D.C., struck a chord with civil rights advocates near and far and became a powerful rallying cry.
King’s speech sparked a movement, which helped create the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ending racial segregation in the United States
Conclusion –
Martin Luther King Jr demonstrated everyone of us can have dream to grow in our life to remain successful .Its important to understand that dream can only be converted into reality provided person has strong good moral values that’s helps us to remain committed to our goal. In his speeches, and in his life choices, Martin Luther King encouraged others to have a dream and to pursue it, no matter what. In fact, most great leaders and innovators claim that having a dream is the most important part of being a good leader, and the only way to achieve real success
Gandhiji concept of nonviolence is known to all over the world but only few really applied in our life . MLK was committed to bring change in society hence he was looking for inspiration and identified learning from Gandhiji best approach to gain success without need to adopt the path of violence . I had opportunity to visit MLK memorial in ATLANTA and was very proud to see statue of Gandhiji.
MLK brought unity and equality in the society .“BLACK LIFE MATTERS” is example how our society still divided and lot needs to be done in adopting learnings from MLK .Surely its important that we take action toward social justice and remain committed to work with each other to bring change ourselves and then in society .
In Dr. King’s famous speech, he said, “We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back.” As we recognize Dr. King’s work and the ultimate sacrifice he gave, let’s continue to march ahead together.
No matter how you plan to spend the MLK day today , whether it’s in quiet reflection, in service, or with family, let’s work together to keep Dr. King’s dream alive.
Wowww Mamaji great very beautifully written