I first learned about Dr. Martin Luther King when I was thirteen years old. I would eat an evening meal from a tv tray while watching Walter Cronkite. Listening to the latest in the civil rights struggle. Even as a young white boy, in an all-white farming town, in the middle of the middle west, Dr. King’s strong voice reached inside me, stirred my heart, and became etched into my developing character.
On the world stage there sometimes comes an individual who can provide a moral compass for an entire generation, and for many generations to follow, and to me Dr. King was such an individual.
In 1967 Dr. King gave a speech, entitled “What Is Your Life Blueprint” to students at Barrett Junior High School in Philadelphia.
He provided three key elements to be included in their design. A belief in your own dignity and be determined to achieve excellence in all you do.
Third, make a commitment to the eternal principles of beauty, love, and justice. He said, “However young you are you have a responsibility to seek to make your nation a better nation. And you have a responsibility to make life better for everybody.”
Now, 56 years later, I still find this to be the blueprint I try to follow. His words still ring true today providing a good blueprint for all of us to follow.
I’m Dan Kenney and this is my perspective.
