MLK, Jr.

There are few men I love as much as I love Martin Luther King, Jr. My favorite quote of his is, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” I have never been more captivated by a dream than I have always been by his. In some ways, society has come a long way. Racism has not disappeared, but segregation, for the most part, has. Unfortunately, these days there seems to be a different kind of segregation, though.
Every day, I see people treating others differently, not because of their skin color necessarily, but because of their social ranking, and it is so wrong. In my eyes, the cool kids are not those who wear the right clothes or go to parties on the weekends. I could not possibly care any less about that. I care about the way people treat me and everyone else, and that is what I will always remember about a person. It doesn’t matter who you are, or who your friends are; there is nothing that makes you superior to anyone else. The fact that some people are driven to believe they are not good enough just because some kid treated them that way truly breaks my heart. In order for MLK’s dream to truly come true, equality for every person is absolutely necessary.
I encourage everybody to build someone up in one way or another every day. We all harness the ability to make someone’s day by simply treating them like they mean something to the world. Can you remember the last compliment you offered or received? The last insult? We should be as kind as possible to people every opportunity we get. Never underestimate the power of a smile and start off today with a random act of kindness. Look at you; you’re already making the world a better place.
Always, Anna