Every third Monday in January Americans celebrate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an activist and humanitarian who dedicated much of his life to ending extreme prejudice, injustice, and inequality.
MLK made huge progress for African-Americans when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally outlawed discrimination in the form of “race, color, religion, or national origin” and put enforcement of equal rights into effect.
After the act passed, it still took time and courageous efforts to remove signs telling African-Americans they could not attend certain schools, restaurants, public pools, hotels, banks, and other establishments. And even longer for people of all race and color to feel welcome and safe. This is still ongoing.
Today, you can still see people allowing fear to influence their beliefs and reinforce inequality and prejudice. It happens everyday--when refugees are rejected from seeking asylum, when black communities are told there is not a problem with police discrimination in the US, when for women cannot access the same wages and jobs as men.
MLK leaning on a lectern.
Prejudice comes from a lack of understanding. This awareness is what motivated a Muslim woman to go to a Donald Trump rally: to learn firsthand the fears and misconceptions at play. She realized that many of the people had the same fears found in most of the world. They felt marginalized economically, socially, and politically. The difference she realized was that supporters at the Trump rally in Reno, Nevada blamed the truly marginalized and disadvantaged such as “illegal immigrants,” underpaid workers in Asia, and different religious groups.
This is obviously the wrong path. Hatred merely exacerbates all the insecurities in society.
So I encourage you to remember the work and words of Martin Luther King Jr. The world can draw inspiration from him to move forward when it comes to Global Goal 10: Reducing inequalities. Look at the progress humanity has made, the laws and legislation we’ve passed to make the world more equal, and how the social norms of racism have been drastically reduced. These things were all made possible by dedicated activists and serve as a reminder that Global Goal 10 can be accomplished. Equal access to economic and educational opportunities for all can be attained, and it starts with passing laws to end inequality (like overturning these 7 laws you won’t believe actually exist.)
For some extra encouragement here are some quotes from Dr. King:
If you have trouble in speaking out against injustice remember “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
If the idea of changing privileges between classes and genders across the world seeming daunting remember, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
If you’re have trouble seeing the impact you can make in ending inequality remember, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”
Because “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.”
And through acts of kindness, empowerment and education the world can turn a dream like this one “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” into a reality.
— Martin Luther King (@mlkquotes) January 15, 2015As the world remembers and honors Martin Luther King Jr. for the progress he made in the African-American civil rights movement let us also not forget to keep pushing forward and continue the fight to reduce inequalities around the world.
According to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “life’s most persistent and urgent question is - what are you doing for others?” Share your answer in the comments below.
And when you go to TAKE ACTION NOW and tell governments and world leaders to make the world a fair place for girls and women by ending gender based violence you can add it to your list.