Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Make A Difference!

Coretta Scott King holding her daughter Bernice by Moneta J. Sleet Jr.

Another civil rights era icon is gone. Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., passed away in her sleep last night. Mrs. King was always by her husband's side, supporting him in his endeavors to end segregation. After his death, she fought to have him remembered with a holiday and established a foundation for nonviolence in his name.

I've already been hearing a lot of discussion about "Where are all of the new icons in the African American community?" I think that they are there, but unlike segregation--which was so blatantly offensive and dehumanizing--the problems within our (and other ethnic and lower-class) communities seem to be battles fought on smaller scales: promoting education and combating poverty, unemployment, hunger, drugs, and violence. There are community leaders out there making a difference. It's just a matter of going out and supporting them. It doesn't matter if you're in a big city or a small town, go out and make a difference in the world!

So many times problems seem so big that we wonder if we can make a difference and we can! Two great sites to start are Network for Good and VolunteerMatch. It only takes one person to effect great change. Dr. King proved that.

3 comments:

Deb R said...

Oh no, I hadn't heard about Mrs. King yet.

Thank you for posting the links, Elle.

Lissy said...

On point and point taken...And let's not forget random acts of kindness.

Frances said...

well said Elle, if each person does just a small something to make the world more equal it adds up to a big improvement, times are better but there is a long way to travel still,