What it Takes to Keep Moving Forward

by Mike Davis, Ph.D.
Head of School

As we head into the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, let’s remind ourselves of why we have this national holiday: to celebrate the moral and physical courage of a great American who worked in inspirational and ethical ways to enact long-lasting social and political change.
 
Martin Luther King, Jr. had the talent, ability, skill, and vision to overcome a great deal of challenge and adversity. He grew up in the era of Jim Crow segregation.   Racial violence in the South (as well as other parts of the country) was a constant reality for African-Americans.  As someone facing injustice, there were so many directions that King could have taken his message.  Where he could have rejected a dream of an integrated and unified America, he was influenced by the ideals of the founding dream of this nation of equality and freedom.  This ideological influence lay on top of his Christian beliefs that called him to love his fellow human beings: friend, family, or foe. 
 
His ministry and quest for social justice emerged in post-World War II America and during the height of the Cold War.  As many historians have noted, it is no accident that his message of racial equality resonated with many Americans in the wake of the defeat of the racist ideology of Nazi Germany.  Hitler took his vision to a genocidal end that horrified the world despite the virulent anti-Semitism that has been well documented among western nations in the twentieth century.  In his writings and speeches, King was savvy about playing off of Cold War themes that challenged Americans to live up to the best of our nation’s values.  He also affirmed the celebrated themes upon which the national was built: that we are all created equal and are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 
 
Undeterred by death threats – bombs tossed outside his living room, death threats that arrived by mail, he continued his calm fight against segregation.  We all know that King had faced multiple attempts on his life. He and his family lived with constant threats, as well as ongoing harassment from the federal government.  He was killed by an assassin on April 4, 1968.
 
I never grow tired of reading his speeches and writings: Here is a passage where MLK really speaks to me as an educator:
 
Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles;
Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances.
Courage breeds creativity; Cowardice represses fear and is mastered by it.
Cowardice asks the question, is it safe?
Expediency asks the question, is it politic?
Vanity asks the question, is it popular?
 
But, conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.
 
With the long weekend, I hope we can all reflect on the vision and message of a true American hero.  King was a leader who challenged Americans to live up to their highest values and ideals. He modeled the kind of courage and relentless work that it takes to make this world a better place. He said, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

I hope that we can count ourselves among them.
 
 
Back
© 2023 Colorado Academy