Martin Luther King, Jr. is a well-known name in Alabama. We know his face and his “I have a Dream” speech. The rock group, U2, wrote a song called “Pride” about his assassination and Patty Griffin sang a beautiful song about the speech he gave the day before that assassination called “Up to the Mountain.” Martin Luther King has been honored in many ways since his death on April 4, 1968.
King saw equality firsthand the summer before he started college when he worked on a tobacco farm in Connecticut. He wrote to his parents saying, “Blacks and whites go to the same church” and, “I never thought that a person of my race could eat anywhere.” That summer undoubtedly fueled his passion for justice. Where most people fight to get what they want, King went after freedom, justice, peace, and equality with a non-violent, compelling firmness. He was a minister who understood God’s command to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31) and the truth that God does not look at the outward appearance like we do. Instead, He looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
How can we continue to honor a man who left behind a strong legacy of conviction? By adopting that conviction. Everything is a choice. Choose to give people a chance. Choose to judge them by their actions instead of their appearance. Choose to turn the “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Be one person who works to turn that around.
Specification Rubber Products was built by men and women who live out Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream and continue to strive to love their neighbors. Help us honor Martin Luther King, Jr. by practicing what he lost his life for; freedom, justice, peace, and equality.
