It Was More Than a Dream and a Loving Heart

My Face Book page is full of quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. today.  Most of them have to do with choosing love over hate, and the famous dream. Beautiful, inspirational sentiments. They motivated a generation.  But in the end they were sentiments.

What created change was action. Marches and protests which hurt white people economically, threatened them politically, intimidated them psychologically, and aroused white sympathy (guilt) were the the mechanisms to change.  The speeches were motivators, and touched our hearts, but people sitting at home in front of their TVs didn't not change anything.  It was those who acted, as in the word activist.

The legacy of MLK deserves more than sentimental quotes shared on social media. It deserves continued action in his honor.  And our children need to see action modeled. Remember the saying, "Actions speak louder than words"?  What your children see you do to further civil rights will make much more of an impact than anything you say.  How but having them join you in that action as well?