MLK | January ‘24
This month is my favorite month of the year, because we get to celebrate the birthday of my hero, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. I got my start in public speaking (beyond my classroom experience) by delivering MLK assemblies in schools - from elementary to high schools.
I encourage you, whatever your age and role, to think about how you can live out Dr King’s legacy by dreaming dreams that are bigger than you, by choosing courage every day, and by committing to a posture of love that chooses to see the humanity in those around you, especially those who are not like you and even those who don’t like you.
Here is one of my favorite quotes by Dr King that inspires me daily:
“You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid. You refuse to do it because you want to live longer. You are afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you are afraid that somebody will stab you, or shoot at you or bomb your house; so, you refuse to take the stand.
Well, you may go on and live until you are 90, but you are just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. You died when you refused to stand up for right, you died when you refused to stand up for truth, you died when you refused to stand up for justice.”
From Sermon on Civil Disobedience, 1966
Finally, I was supposed to do an MLK assembly in a school on January 12, but our region had a snow day, so the event was canceled. In response, I recorded a 20-minute presentation that is appropriate for audiences of anyone over the age of 9.
Please listen and share, if it’s useful: https://youtu.be/kWonKwL84-4?feature=shared
Fun fact: Erin will be delivering a keynote and a workshop at Disney World at the end of month for the International Association of Fire Fighters! Who would have imagined that as a possibility before the pandemic!