The Type Of Leaders We Need To Be Developing…Martin Luther King, Jr.

“May I stress the need for courageous, intelligent, and dedicated leadership... Leaders of sound integrity. Leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with justice. Leaders not in love with money, but in love with humanity. Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause.”

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

#LeadershipTuesdays: His Dream Still Speaks To Us...Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The ultimate measure of a man [woman] is not where he [she] stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he [she] stands in times of challenge and controversy.”

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Prints are available of this artwork by Derek Russell.
Go to: http://www.derekrussellartist.com

On Tuesdays, @womenatliberty presents #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Today marks the 90th anniversary of the birthdate of Martin Luther King, Jr. Had he been afforded the opportunity to live out his normal life expectancy, he may have been around to celebrate his 90th birthday. Who knows, his sister, Christine King Farris, a powerful force in her own right, is still alive at 91. 

Alas, we will never know an older Martin King, but what we do know is his dream, his words, his legacy are timeless. Just as his dream inspired a generation and a nation more than 50 years ago, it inspires and calls us forth today. The dream still whispers to our conscience, our spirit, our heart, saying "Where do you stand and what are you doing?"

Today, King's articulated dream has more meaning now than ever. As 800,000 federal government employees went without a paycheck last Friday; 30,000 Los Angeles, CA County educators serving the second largest school district in the U.S. enter into their second day of a labor strike; the unemployment rate is at an all time low but yet the rate for Africans Americans is still almost twice that of White Americans; women are still likely to be paid less than their male counterparts even when all other things are equal; and minorities including Native Americans, Latinx and Asians have to continually fight not to be type cast into societal roles and stereotypes that do not reflect their skills and individual potential, the dream, Martin's dream, still speaks to us. Again, it's saying, 'Where are you standing and what are you doing?' Do you hear it? In the #BlackLivesMatter movement, in the fight for immigration rights, in the women's movement. Do you hear Martin's voice and dream?  

Those words "I have a dream today..." spoken from the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 changed our lives and inspired several generations of leaders and ordinary Americans in addition to those standing at the March On Washington with him. That was yesterday, but today as we stand yet fighting for equality and civil, human and economic rights, his voice is still heard. What is his dream challenging the leader in you to do? Because there is a leader in you.

For more information on #LeadershipTuesdays, follow us at @LeadershipTues on Twitter.  There you will find daily posts that provides resources to help you develop and strengthen your leadership skills. 

--Nona Ogunsula, Founder, womenatliberty.com and #LeadershipTuesdays

Image credit: Derek Russell

There Is No Neutrality...

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

– Desmond Tutu


“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

– Elie Wiesel


“Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.”

– Paulo Freire


“The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict…[an individual] who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

– Martin Luther King Jr.

A Conversation On Reconciling Racial Tensions…James T. Meeks

“The only way out of the tensions that our country face is that black and white are going to have to sit down and find the solution together. The only reason that you (Bill Hybels) and I (James Meeks) are able to talk about race is because we trust each other. And we trust each other because in our heart we believe that the other person is just not out to get something or making up some story… We believe that we are decent people at heart. The first thing that you really have to do, black and white people, is to get to know each other…get to know each other. And then find a solution together. And so it’s going to take us all working together and it’s going to take us trusting each other to even want to figure it out." 

  --Rev. Dr. James Meeks, Founder and Pastor, Salem Baptist Church; Former Illinois State Senator

During the 2016 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Weekend, Bill Hybels, who is Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois and also founder of the Willow Creek Association and Global Leadership Summit, invited Rev. James Meeks to Willow Creek Community Church to have a discussion about the racial problems and tensions that are plaguing Chicago, Illinois. Tensions in Chicago were recently exacerbated by the release of a video that captured the police shooting of an unarmed black youth. Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by a police officer as he was walking away from a confrontation with police on October 20, 2014. Following the release of the video 13 months later, protests erupted in Chicago and major cities across the U.S. decrying this shooting as well as the recent police shootings and brutality of other unarmed people of color while interacting with police.
 
The quote above, while meant for the audience that was present during Bill Hybels and James Meeks’ conversation, is being shared because it is applicable to a wider audience. We must learn to live together or we will perish together.

To hear the conversation between Bill Hybels and James Meeks, click the link below:

Bill Hybels and James Meeks discuss racial problems in Chicago and U.S. 

Keep On Moving...Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The thing that we are challenged to do is to keep this movement moving. There is power in unity and there is power in numbers.

Keep this movement going. Keep this movement rolling. In spite of the difficulties, and we are going to have a few more difficulties, keep climbing. Keep moving. If you can't fly, run. If you can run, walk. If you can't walk, crawl. But by all means, keep moving."

--Martin Luther King, Jr., Excerpt from the speech, "Keep On Moving" at St. Luke's Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL, May of 1963

To hear the entire excerpt that was featured on NPR, click here.

The Dream...Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

--Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

The Normalcy We Seek...Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I know there is a cry today in Alabama, we see it in numerous editorials: "When will Martin Luther King, SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), SNCC (Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee), and all of these civil rights agitators and all of the white clergymen and labor leaders and students and others get out of our community and let Alabama return to normalcy?" The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy that recognizes the dignity and worth of all of God’s children. The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy that allows judgment to run down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy of brotherhood, the normalcy of true peace, the normalcy of justice."


--Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March (Speech Excerpt), March 25,1965

From Director Ava DuVernay, SELMA is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Starring David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alessandro Nivola, Giovanni Ribisi Common, Carmen Ejogo, Lorraine Toussaint, with Tim Roth and Oprah Winfrey as “Annie Lee Cooper.”

Honoring The Sacrifice...Nona

May the way we live our lives honor your sacrifice and the sacrifice of countless others whose names and faces are not so well-known, but whose work was no less effective.

Develop A Loyalty To All People...Martin Luther King

"Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies."

--Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Doing What's Right...Martin Luther King, Jr.

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

--Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Never Lose Hope...Martin Luther King Jr.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
 
 --Martin Luther King, Jr.

Be Filled and Fulfilled!...Coretta Scott King

I'm fulfilled in what I do. I never thought that a lot of money or fine clothes--the finer things of life--would make you happy. My concept of happiness is to be filled in a spiritual sense."

--Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr.

True Compassion...Martin Luther King, Jr.

“True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

We Still Have A Distance To Go...John Lewis

We have come a long way in America because of Martin Luther King, Jr. He led a disciplined, nonviolent revolution under the rule of law, a revolution of values, a revolution of ideas. We've come a long way, but we still have a distance to go before all of our citizens embrace the idea of a truly interracial democracy, what I like to call the Beloved Community, a nation at peace with itself.

John R. Lewis (D-GA), U.S. Congressman (1987-2020), Civil Rights Leader

Wisdom For The Heartbroken...Martin Luther King, Jr.

There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.

--Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter From Birmingham Jail

Peace...Martin Luther King, Jr.

Happy Birthday Dr. King!!

"One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means." 

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Don't Be Passive...Martin Luther King, Jr.

 He [she] who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he [she] who helps to perpetrate it. He [she] who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Build Dikes of Courage...Martin Luther King, Jr

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.  

--Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Ultimate Weakness...Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.  --Martin Luther King, Jr. " Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967

The Right Time...Martin L. King, Jr.

"I am coming to feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than the people of goodwill. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right."  

 --Martin Luther King, Jr.