long time no see

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by Clayborne Carson
King was born in the late twenties. He grew up in a segregated, racist America, where his family could not vote and had no rights and their friends lived in ghettos. When in college, he read Marx, Lenin, and Nietzsche looking for the answer to the social evils he lived with. He found it in the nonviolence of Gandhi, and throughout his ministries for rights for blacks and the poor, he always used this doctrine. He founded the movements that led to the outlawing of segregation, black votes, and open housing. He was and is an inspiration for America.

Very good. I have never heard of all that MLK did, and it made me think. Lots of it made me mad and sad. How different would America be if we resorted to nonviolence? Maybe we wouldn't have had messes like Korea and Vietnam and Iraq. What would we be like if things were still segregated? Maybe I'd think minorities were trash. What can we do about social problems? Maybe we could buy less stuff and donate the rest, or give what we already have to Salvation Army. Maybe we can help streetkids get homes. Maybe we could take meals to sick people. A man came to my school one time. His was the first black family in Norman, and they lived on the 'wrong' side of town. They lived through some tough times. I've got black friends. What if they lived like that? Would I do anything about it? I hope I would have. We need to act more on what he taught- the Gospel, love and grace and community and hope. Maybe if everyone did, we'd all be better people and have a better country. We should try.