Today in Washington DC, history will be made, a national memorial will be unveiled and dedicated to the legacy of the American civil rights icon, Martin Luther King Jr by President Barack Obama before about 50,000 audience and tens of millions of people who will be watching it live via the cable television channels around the world. This is the first memorial for a blackman in the 235 years of America's history as a nation.
WHO TRULY WAS MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR?
The biggest questions that should agitate every mind today are the following questions: Who was Martin Luther King, Jr? What did he stand for? What motivated him into the struggles for racial equality and justice in America? What was his political philosophy? What was his political ideology? Who were his mentors? Was he a true radical? Why did he die? What did he did for? What were the legacies he left behind? How relevant are his struggles and the things he fought for in America of today in the 21st century?
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR:THE TRUE RADICAL
Martin Luther King, Jr was a true radical in all ramifications. He stood aganist the establishment, established order and the agelong status quo in the American society. He fought against racial inequality, segregation, discrimination, injustice and poverty in America of his time and died in the struggles fighting for a change and a better America. He desired to see America becomes a nation of racial equality and equal justice before the law of the land for all her citizens and residents. He wanted America to be the true melting point for all her peoples.
THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY AND IDEOLOGY FOR HIS MISSION:
His political ideology and philosophy of a "Nonviolent Resistance Struggle" aganist racism, injustice, discrimination, poverty and for equality of all races were shaped by the American Declaration of Independence that reads:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".
He was also motivated by the words and the teachings of Jesus Christ and the political philosophy and methods that the late Indian leader Mahatma Ghandi used successful in India aganist the British colonial power that got the nation of India a political independence from Great Britain.
REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR AND HIS LEGACIES:
Firstly, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes the American nation for the first time since it was founded in 1776 to be a global example of a nation of many union of races, nationalities, cultures, religion beliefs, political ideologies, economic theories and social affliations that is still striving on daily basis to become a more perfect union that will accomodate all these human diversities in life.
Secondly, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 now opens the American nation to legal immigration from all over the nations of the whole world. These new immigrants and the new Americans are direct beneficiaries from the gains of these civil rights struggles and the legacies of Rev. King. They now live, work and raise their families in a nation of laws where they are given equal treatment under the supreme law of the land.
Thirdly, tens of thousands of individuals from different minority groups since 1964 have taken the full advantage of the Civil Rights Act and had moved into positions of leadership in the different sectors of the American life, both in the private and in the public sectors of the our economy. American 21st century workplace, neighborhoods and educational systems are a direct reflection of the diversities of races as a result of this Civil Rights Act that is at work on behalf of all Americans and equally for all Americans and her residents.
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