Thoughts on Martin Luther King Day

You may have noticed a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. that has been at our blog's sidebar since the start of LVS:

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

This quote has special meaning to us here at LVS where we believe that King's words ring as true today as they did during the civil rights movement.

A time comes when citizens must speak out, because of civic duty, against the crooked systems that enable injustice, no matter how deceitful the opposing voices that support the status quo may be.

Dr. King believed that changing peoples' hearts and minds is what changes the system. If good men and women do nothing, then evil wins.

King's dream of racial equality has come true for some but it has not been completely realized considering the fact that our nation's wealth and power is still controlled by privileged white men, and great disparities between most black and white people still exist. And even with a black President of the United States, racial prejudice and outright racism still thrive. But because Dr. King had the courage to speak out, racial segregation ended and paved the way for a man like Barack Obama to even have a chance at becoming President.

Some ways we can honor Dr. King's memory are by volunteering, donating money to Haiti, and speaking out against injustice-- be it Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, the Lehigh County DA's office, health insurance companies, The Morning Call, or our NeoCon local blogosphere.

You Tube Video > full version of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Comments had to be disabled at You Tube because so many were hateful and racist. Still.