Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States, a national holiday celebrating the birth, life and achievements of the civil rights Leader, slain in Memphis, TN in 1968. Yesterday, banks and federal office buildings were closed. So were the markets as were most public schools.
For working parents like my wife and me (whose businesses remained open), a day off means yet another day to manage kids’ schedules and activities throughout the day. There’s not much time to reflect on anything, let alone Dr. King’s legacy. What I did manage to accomplish by way of reflection was to watch the “I Have a Dream” speech. Despite the grainy video and at times scratchy audio the speech still manages to stir something deep inside me, as I’m sure it does for many of you.
Something new stirred in me this year. What King spoke about that day in Washington D.C.—in fact the mission to which he dedicated his life—was imagining and creating an alternative future for our society. King thought “what-if” things were different? What-if we judged people by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin?
This blog shares “ideas to help you transform an uncertain future.” That’s the essence of “what-if”: How can I shape the future? Dr. Martin Luther King offered a compelling “what-if” scenario for the world, one for which he gave his life and we still strive to achieve. If you have 17 minutes, watch the speech below:
