Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of my heroes, and a source of great inspiration and hope!

One of my favorite songs, SHED A LITTLE LIGHT, was written in honor of this great man.  In truth, it’s every day that the sun rises, that I turn my thoughts to Dr. King’s hopes and dreams for our nation.  And James Taylor’s lyric: “There is a hunger in the center of the chest” is perhaps the most accurate description of why I must write the stories that I write — stories of hope and love (and sister and brotherhood).

Here’s a terrific live version, sung by James Taylor:

[youtube id=”http://youtu.be/p18qu4Te9j4″ width=”600″ height=”350″]

Here’s the link to the YouTube video, in case the embedded video doesn’t work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p18qu4Te9j4

I was just a child when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, but I remember crying — my parents grieved, too. And they made sure I grew up with access to Dr. King’s wisdom.

His words have brought me great comfort and hope through the years, particularly:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

His words have also inspired me to act, to speak, to refuse to stand silently:

“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.”

Here are some sites that list some of Dr. King’s most memorable words:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martin_luther_king_jr.html

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23924.Martin_Luther_King_Jr_

And here’s a site that provides information and history about this great American leader:

http://www.thekingcenter.org/about-dr-king

“Let us turn our thoughts today
To Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women
Living on the earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood
That we are bound together
In our desire to see the world become
A place in which our children
Can grow free and strong
We are bound together
By the task that stands before us
And the road that lies ahead
We are bound and we are bound…” — James Taylor

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See you tomorrow for the next installment in the DO OR DIE Countdown.

Read DO OR DIE’s cover blurb at https://suzannebrockmann.com/upcoming/do-or-die/

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