MLK

Today is MLK Day, and I think that it is odd how the world uses this day. I just watched a group of people protesting Stuff and using Martin Luther King Jr. On their signs and stuff. I thought, "How can these people presume to know what he would have thought about whatever random socialist thing they are talking about." I guess I just think people don't remember what an amazing person he was, a man of both incredible success and failure. For, although he did to change our world for the better he is the only black man to whom a holiday is given in North America and Europe, and the only one for whose holiday a stock exchange closes outside of Africa. He has become an exception to the rule, and misunderstood as well as underestimated by all races that make up the United States. He was unswaying in his optimism and swathed grace, as well being irrefutable flawed. I listen to his famous speech that needn't be named (it again is the world's most listened too black spoken word recording). I think of this day as a time to reflect on the injustice in the world and how we contribute to it and fight against it. What are we willing to change in our lives? Would we really stop shopping somewhere that contributes to the evil of the world today? How many people of different races do we really count as friends? How much plant killing, resource wasting beef do we eat? There are so many things we could do to help the world that we can't see the forest for the trees. I know that I fall far short of my own standards of righteousness, but I hope to reflect and better myself today. I also think it important to reflect on other civil rights leaders that do not get recognized with their own day of remembrance.