The very basics of life that we now take for granted were difficult or unattainable to Black Americans. Things like going to the mall(shopping center), watching a movie, using public facilities, even getting a cup of coffee where governed by the Jim Crow dictates of "White and Colored". I recall as a kid growing up in Goulds, Florida walking to the "colored" movies to see the "10 Commandments". The images of the shiny electronically cooled water fountains marked "White only" next to a little porcelain colored fountain were forever ingrained in my mind as a child. And that was just the public face of Jim Crow. Decades of lynchings, rape, bombings and dehumanizing treatment were the most brutal aspects of the discrimination that Blacks endured in the United States of American and it was most pronounced in the South.
Dr. King was born to challenge those practices. It was as though God said, "I will send a deliverer for my people". To get a full grasp of the Genius of Dr. King, consider that he memorized and delivered all of his speeches and sermons without notes. He penned his famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" at the age of 34, completely from memory, without reference, google or the internet. It was smuggled out of the prison etched on strips of toilet paper. The issues raised in that letter were in response to local pastors questioning his decision and timing as an "outside agitator" in inciting the demonstrations in protest of the deplorable conditions in which residents of that city were subjected. Dr. King's famous quote "Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere" was penned in that letter.
Looking back, I can mark several milestones in Dr. King's career as they relate to significant events in my personal life.
As a 7 year old, I remember how encouraged my mom, Sarah Elizabeth Jones was when Dr. King triumphantly lead the March on Washington in August of 1963 as well as her foreboding concern for his safety.
When I was 12, I recall the tragedy of his death and going to school the next day wanting to fight anybody, which we did at Central Jr. High in Newark, Delaware in the playground parking lot, while riots broke out nationwide.
As a young man entering the Army, I recall my Aunt Myrtle Watson's instructions as I departed with the recruiter, "Whatever you do, do as Dr. King says, even if you're a street sweeper, be the best street sweeper you can be". And I took those words and applied them to my pursuit of being a military musician.
As a mature soldier, I was blessed to give oratory performances of "I have a Dream" and several of his many speeches with orchestral accompaniment while serving at Fort McClellan, Alabama, Fort Wainwright, Alaska and finally, with the 82d Army Band at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
I don't mean to trivialize Dr. King's accomplishments by these comparisons, but rather I think anyone can find a reason to be encouraged and inspired by studying the life of Dr. King, reading his works and pursuing the excellence that he desired of peoples of all races and creeds. Even now, as I enter the latter stanzas of my physical life, his words stand to motivate me to continue to pursue excellence and greatness in all that I place my hands unto...Happy Martin Luther Jr. Day to all and Thank You Dr. King.
JUST SAY'n!
Link to some of Dr. King's quotes. 
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