Martin Luther King Jr, An Iconic Leader Whose Fight is Not Over.

In honor of MLK day today, I think it's important to note the fight that Dr. King started.

Dr.King was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a simple man who started off as a pastor at his family's Church, Ebenezer Baptist Church. His grandfather was the first pastor of the church, and it continued through to Dr. King. Due to Dr.King grew up in Jim Crow Era, when segregation, discrimination, and inequality were at their peak, he saw the atrocities and difficulties that minorities had to face in that era and was highly affected by it. Due to the circumstances and the environment that Dr.King grew up in, he eventually became the leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. However, what makes Dr.King unique, is that, unlike most wars and revolutions in our country's history, Dr.King chose to follow Mahatma Gandhi's ideals and take the path of nonviolence in this movement. He chose to use his voice and words as his weapons, rather than taking up guns and bats. This path, while most dangerous and threatening, eventually led to major improvements toward minority rights and the end of Jim Crow laws, however, the fight that Dr.King started is far from over.

Even today, while it may not be as evident as it was in Dr.King's time, racism, discrimination, and inequality toward minority is still major issue in the United States of America. We may not segregate our classrooms anymore, but there's still an evident bias towards people of color that can be held. Schools with a majority white population, from students to teachers, are more likely to receive larger funding and increased chances of opportunity to build a solid, high-end career. If you go to a school where there is a larger black/brown population, these schools are the second option to receive government funding and opportunity. Even our most evident example of bias and discrimination in the United States comes from the way our police force handles cases. A black person is more likely to be stopped by police without due cause than a white person, solely based on their appearance and skin color. A police officer is more likely to behave discriminately with a black person dressed in a hoodie and jeans than they are with a white person in a suit and tie. And because of this bias, police are more likely to kill a person of color than they would a white person. Now, I'm not saying white people do not have their own issues in our society, but they have what we call "White Privilege", which is having the advantage to avoid foul situations solely based on the fact a person is white. If you take a look at recent years, you'll see a large uptick in police-involved deaths of a person of color. All because it stems from an old bias that white people are expected to be saints, and people of color cannot be trusted.

Dr.King has significantly improved the quality of life for minorities in this country. This is true. But while we honor Dr.King today, let us remember that his fight has not ended. It has just started. And it is up to us to continue the fight for racial equality in this country. In a country that was built off the back of slaves and people of color, we fail to recognize the fact that true freedom comes when all people, black and white, are treated with equal rights and opportunities. To those who think they are not racist, ensure that you do not hold any kind of bias against any person of color before claiming to not be racist. Because in today's world, you don't have to say "nigger" to sound racist. Your actions can speak far louder than words. If the police yell "hands up" before shooting a white culprit, then be willing to give that same opportunity to a black culprit as well. Be willing to start the conversation to see what people truly think instead of silently forming your opinions. Real change comes when a person is willing to talk AND listen. Dr.King showed us that to have a substantial, long-lasting change, we do not need to resort to violence. What we need to do is be able to start conversations about difficult topics like these. We also need to be willing to listen to other opinions on these topics and be open to changing our own.

I am not going to make this a long post. This post is to honor Dr.King. What Dr.King stood for. This is to remind everyone that the work he started is not finished yet. It is up to us to finish it. The topics I talked about, I have spoken about before in my previous posts. To honor Dr.King, I will continue to raise my opinion and bring forward my voice when it comes to the injustices in this country. I will continue to raise questions on how the system is "fair". I will continue to question every person who shares similar thoughts on inequality and racial injustice until a systemic change begins. But the real question I have for everyone who reads this is, what will you do to honor the iconic Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.?