Dr. King Had A Dream...
On Monday, we commemorated the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, brutally gunned down by an assassin in Memphis, Tennessee, 45 years ago.
On that same day, this year, we saw the peaceful continuity of our government, with the historic second inauguration of our first African-American president, Barack Obama.
Dr. King had an instinctive, spiritual, charismatic ability to make connections. To change hearts, inspire action, build community. He reached out, often one person at a time, and created a movement that changed the face of America.
President Barack Obama is, without question, the embodiment of our age of connectivity — from his campaign’s massive online organization right down to his sneaking a peek at his Blackberry during the inauguration.
And if Dr. King had a dream… voiced right at the same Washington Mall that was packed with the throngs who came to watch our democracy in process this week — we too have dreams that have tremendous possibility made exponentially easier by technology.
Connectivity is a fact of life now and our digitally empowered, enhanced and engaged lives are much the better for it. No argument there. But thinking about Martin Luther King reminds me how our lives are also sustained by physical connection, a whole different kind of engagement — whether it’s being one among many on Inauguration Day or sharing with your family at the dinner table.
Dr. King wrote:
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever effects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr – Letter from a Birmingham Jail
His spirituality found expression in human connection. We live in a world of connectivity sparked and sustained by technology. What extraordinary reminders this week that in our time both are powerful, necessary and intertwined.
Lecturer,Tour Guide, Researcher studying for a Ph.D at Roehampton
10 年Thank you for covering this MLK is one of my heroes He made us realise that we are all special and unique - and all Loved by God - Free at Last!
Executivo de Investimentos na ITSM TEC | Gest?o de Startups
11 年As a visionary about connectivity, Dr. MLK knew for a collective response in the community and its ideals enough a spark. This, perhaps, is the big question for the moment, to find the right spark to the strong connection. What is needed then? We have much more tools! Perhaps believing in our collective consciousness.
Information Security Professional, CISSP, MCSE, MCP, 3Com 3Wizard
11 年"Like it or not, we live in times of danger and uncertainty. That is the way he lived; that is what he leaves us. My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death, beyond what he was in life. Be remembered simply as he could, a decent man who saw a wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw a war and tried to stop it. Those of us who loved him, and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times and in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him, 'Some men see things as they are and say, "Why?" I see things that never were and say, "Why not?" ' " A combined memorial tribute to John, Martin, and Bobby.
RemedyWerx Founder
11 年Dr. King did his part, how's it coming with your part?