Ode to Martin Luther King Jr.

When one hears the name Dr. Martin Luther King, fried chicken, biscuits, cobb salad, and fried okra are usually not the first things that come to mind. Eating dinner in South Quad on Monday night, I was perturbed by the “Martin Luther King Day” themed meal. For me, the theme took a true hero and subjugated him into some Disneyland aberration or some cartoon of a greater movement– almost like how Santa Claus overrides Jesus Christ in nearly all Christmas celebrations. Therefore, to compensate for this stereotyped southern African American meal, I have decided to list some of Martin Luther King’s many accomplishments:

Dr. Martin Luther King was named the first president of a group of African American ministers who formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. As a committed leader he traveled about 780,000 miles and made 208 speeches. Dr. King published his first book, Stride Toward Freedom, in1958. In 1959, King went to India for a visit with Mohandas Gandhi, and learned Gandhi’s passive resistance techniques for later use in the civil-rights movement. In 1962, Dr. King met with President John F.Kennedy, urging support for civil rights. In 1963, Dr. King led protests in Birmingham for desegregated department store facilities and fair hiring.While detained in jail for demonstrating against a court order he wrote”Letter From Birmingham Jail.” In August, Dr. King gave his most famous speech, “I Have a Dream.” In 1964, Dr. King published his second book, Why We Can’t Wait.  In December 1964, Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize. In February of the same year, Dr. King continued to protest against voter registration discrimination, and was arrested and jailed. In March 1965, Dr. King and about 3,200 people made the famous march from Selma to Montgomery.

Dr. King’s life is an epic of the pursuit of freedom in a world which instictually oppresses. Dr. Martin Luther King however, advocated nonviolence and thus he believed wholeheartedly that all people have asource of good in them. It takes colossal strength to meet hatred withlove. America is not completely finished with the eradication of racism andhatred. However, in comparison to the mid-20th century, we sure have come along way. And such I contemplated, eating a biscuit in South Quad.

(Photo by Tanya Rogovyk)