I am inspired by his courage. He trembled with fear—because he was human—and he knew, viscerally, the mortal risks before him. Still, he moved forward, choosing “real” truth, solidarity, and the hard work of doing what was right. There are brave people in this world today all around us. Ordinary folk. I salute MLK and I salute all the ordinary, often very scared, but exceedingly courageous people all around us doing what is right everyday. Thank You.
The paragraph below was excerpted from a short write-up generated by Heather Cox Richardson. It is about the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his mountaintop speech one day prior to his assassination.
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“As I listened to Ralph Abernathy and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about.”
Dr. King told the audience that if God had let him choose any era in which to live, he would have chosen the one in which he had landed. “Now, that’s a strange statement to make,” King went on, “because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around…. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.” Dr. King said that he felt blessed to live in an era when people had finally woken up and were working together for freedom and economic justice.
He knew he was in danger as he worked for a racially and economically just America. “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter…because I’ve been to the mountaintop…. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life…. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”
People are wrong to say that we have no heroes left.
Just as they have always been, they are all around us, choosing to do the right thing, no matter what.
Wishing us all a day of peace for Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2026.
