Martin Luther King, Jr.

After going through all this, so much of it violent and disturbing, it is really refreshing to turn to a man of great dignity, repose and committed to non-violence, Martin Luther King, Jr. whose birthday we honor today.

Son and grandson of Baptist ministers, he carefully developed his phrasing and oratory skills until he could virtually mesmerize an audience, as in his I Have a Dream Speech. Ending at the urging of Mahalia Jackson that he had this dream of little white children and little black children playing together in the red hills of Georgia.

His bravery was without equal in the long march to equality which continues today. Police with clubs, snarling police dogs, imprisonment, bombing of his home he took in stride and never faltered.

It took an assassins rifle bullet shot from an adjoining building to quell him – but still his memory, his actions, his beliefs live on.

Martin, we honor you, we cherish you, you were truly heaven sent

To help our country. May we each continue in your spirit and keep your good works ever present and alive.