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| The late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr |
Who was Martin Luther King, Jr? What did he stand for? What motivated him into the mass movement and the political struggles for racial equality and justice in America? What was his political philosophy? What was his political ideology? Who were his mentors that shaped his life and destiny? Was he a true radical in all ramifications or not? Why did he die? What did he died for? What are the enduring legacies that he left behind 47 years later? How relevant are his political legacies to the 21st century America, to the present state of the African-Americans and to the present historical presidency of Barack Obama?
Martin Luther King, Jr was a true radical in all ramifications. He stood against the powerful American white establishment. He fought against the established order of racial segregation, white supremacy and the age-long status quo in the American society. He fought against racial injustice, racial inequality, racial segregation, racial discrimination and poverty in America of his time. He died in the struggle fighting for a change and a better America that should treat all her citizens fairly. He desired to see America that will become a nation of racial equality, fair economic opportunities for all and equal justice before the same law of the land for all her citizens and residents. He wanted to see America becoming the true melting point for all her peoples as it says in her Declaration of Independence.
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Martin Luther King's political ideology and philosophy of a "Nonviolent Resistance Struggle" against racism, injustice, discrimination, economic inequality, 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". Martin Luther was motivated by the words and the teachings of Jesus Christ and the political philosophy and political agitation method that the late Indian leader Mahatma Ghandi used successful in India against 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 become a global example of a nation of many union of races, nationalities, cultures, religion beliefs, political ideologies, economic theories and social affiliations that is still striving on daily basis to date to become a more perfect union that will accommodate all these human diversities as one entity.
Secondly, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 now opens the American nation to legal immigration from all over the nations of the world. These new immigrants and the new Americans are now the 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 and democracy.
