by Deborah A. Bailey
I’ve decided to continue my tradition of sharing MLK Jr. quotes. You can see previous years here: 2015, 2016, 2018 , 2019, 2020 and 2021.
We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity but in love with humanity.
A leader doesn’t have to be a political one. Or a business one. You can be a leader in your community, your family or your workplace.
We live in a time where people can become social media “stars” overnight. They can command attention and be looked at as leaders. That’s not necessarily bad. Thing is, what is the purpose?
Too often people in positions of leadership forget that they do have a responsibility that comes with that pedestal they’ve been placed on. Not to be perfect but to care about more than what they can get. Or who they use to get it.
Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.
If we’re only focused on peace as a reaction to preparation for war, then that’s not going to accomplish very much. Peace must be the focus at all times. Even when there isn’t a war – or drumbeats for one – going on.
You could also interpret this to mean that those who don’t think every action should lead to conflict, should be just as determined to preserve the peace.
Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.
Everything is connected. One can’t be all they can be at the expense of others being less. Even though society is structured in a hierarchy where some must always be limited so that others can be perceived as better (and more deserving).
In time measures have to be taken to preserve the status quo, because everything evolves. And the status quo cannot remain the same unless it is enforced. And if it is, then parts of society will suffer so that other parts can prosper. And in the end, it will lead to collapse. For everyone.
That last quote was from Martin Luther King Jr.’s book, Letter from a Birmingham Jail
https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
