Martin Luther King III
It's time for political leaders across the ideological spectrum to realize that, while partisanship is understandable, hyper-partisanship is destructive to our country. We need more visionary leaders who will earnestly strive for bipartisanship and finding policy solutions that can move America forward.
Some people need a targeted kind of learning. They need a different approach, like charter schools. There are virtual classrooms that some will do well in. The reality is, if there are no options, if there is just one particular standard, then someone is going to fall through the cracks, as we've seen.
And if we truly want a strong and secure middle class, we must restore the ability of labor unions to organize and represent working people.
When my father articulated his vision for the future, he expressed his wish that one day his children would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. This dream was not just about me and my siblings, but about our children and their children.
African Americans and all people of color can benefit greatly by supporting the Clean Power Plan, which will help reduce the impacts of climate change and expand the use of clean, renewable energy from the wind and sun.
America has an obligation to secure its borders, but it is wrong to pass laws that treat human beings as something less than human. If my father were alive, he would be in the forefront of the struggle for a fair and humane reform of our immigration laws.
There are people of conscience all over the world, famous leaders, as well as unsung heroes and 'sheroes,' who are carrying forward the nonviolent movement for freedom and human rights.
I'm proud of my father, but my pride cannot be fully measured by that snapshot in history. Because contrary to first glance, my father's legacy comes not from his presiding over the final act in the drama of fighting for equal rights - his legacy is about setting the stage.
I was 10 years old when my father was assassinated in 1968. Then, I had some sense of the sacrifices and hardships required of the families of a leader who was constantly in the news.
Our kids are reflections of us. How we interact with others, even in a hostile situation... how we respond and our children see that is how they are going to respond.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an impassioned advocate of economic justice as well as social justice.
What we have still not learned is how to treat our fellow human beings... We have to find a way to coexist without doing harm to one another and that is whether it's in the United Stated or in the Middle East or in the African continent or in Asia or anywhere on the planet.
I think a culture of nonviolence will help create the condition where poverty is unacceptable, where racism is way behind us and not something that we have to deal with on a frequent basis, and where militarism and violence are reduced almost to be nonexistent.
Martin Luther King Jr. would say love not hate would make America great.
It's going to take all of us rolling up our sleeves to make America the America that it must become.
It's clear to me that millions of young people understand and value my father's legacy of social change through nonviolence.
Our leaders should certainly engage passionate advocacy of needed reforms, and equally strong criticism of policies they believe are destructive to America. But, from the school boards to the White House, let's elect more candidates who are committed to constructive dialogue and reasonable compromises.
In my view, nothing would do more to reduce violence in American cities than genuine full employment - a job at a decent wage for every person who wants to work. Numerous studies have shown that violence increases with unemployment.
Anyway, in 1966, Daddy had started to attack Lyndon Johnson on the war in Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson was a good man. Even though he was a Southern conservative, Lyndon Johnson passed more civil-rights legislation than any other president in history.
Our family has always drawn on the power from above to comfort us in times of despair and stress.
I was told that Daddy was murdered by a white man. I could have adopted an attitude of hating whites. But then in 1974 my grandmother was killed by a black man, so I could have hated blacks too.
The King Center in Atlanta specializes in educating people about my father's life, work and teachings, and we have resources and programs available for that purpose.
President Obama certainly has an impressive gift for eloquence, and he has a global vision, as did my father. He doesn't rattle easy, and he doesn't harbor animosity, which were also characteristics my father had. But my father's arena was far broader than politics.
There is more racial integration in American life and many more people of color serving as elected officials and corporate leaders than there were during my father's time. But there is also reason for concern about new forms of racial oppression, such as measures to make it harder to vote, racial profiling and crushing public worker unions.
One of the things my dad and mom worked on throughout their lives was the eradication of poverty.
I think we have got to do a better job explaining to people why their vote does count. I think people feel disconnected from some of their elected officials, as well as the system, because, sometimes, it is very complicated.
I think that it's appropriate to have the Confederate flag perhaps in a museum, but it is not a unifying symbol.
Because we always are feeling for justice for all that the reality is, unfortunately, the justice system is skewed, and often people of color do not receive appropriate justice in this country.
Because when we look at the modern civil rights movement under the leadership of my father and the team that he developed, it was at the federal level that we were able to appeal to bring about justice, whether it was in relationship to voting rights - just a number of issues.
Now, that doesn't mean that individuals can't have Confederate flags on their property. They have the right to do that. But again, it represents something that is not unifying.
As our nation has become more divided, there is a resonance for a message to bring people together.
I began to understand that not only was there was a social justice agenda, there was a policy agenda. For every justice campaign there was a policy initiative associated with it.
There are times when you need a strategic quarterback who has a proven record, and certainly, Colin Kaepernick is one of those.
The reality is what Black Lives Matter are raising as an issue is an issue.
I had the opportunity with my brother to travel with my father probably seven or eight times. The last experience was in 1967, just a few months before he was killed.
I mean if you stay engaged, and are constantly fighting, you don't have time to regenerate. So sometimes you have to take time to renew your strength and energy, so that you can come back and fight again in a constructive way.
I don't know that endorsement's important, so I'm not necessarily here to endorse, but what I will say is, if I was a Canadian resident, I would support my friend and his party, Justin Trudeau.
I just think we have to create the climate so that people will come out on election day and vote.
You can win a victory in your neighbourhood. You can win a victory in your school. You can win a victory in your place of worship... Be ashamed of your existence until you've done a little something to make the world in which we all must live a little better than it was when you arrived.
That's why I don't generally talk about endorsements because I don't believe we have to tell people who to vote for.
Human life is important and it feels like there is not a concern in communities of color. Very frustrated, but we will never give up and lose hope and change our system.
My father's approach to the most brutal and unambiguous social injustices during the civil rights struggle was rooted in nonviolence as a morally and tactically correct response.
Many feel that in today's climate some of those in authority are exercising, in effect, a self-serving, 'ends justify the means' mindset as well, and that, in turn, empowers them to do the same.
The only way you change is you have to at least be communicating.
Now, Martin Luther King Jr. was a bridge builder, not a wall builder.
My siblings and I were watching the evening news and we saw it flashed across the screen that our father had been shot... we just knew that something terrible had happened.
When you've been raised in a home of love, and for your loved one to be taken away from you through violence, a lot of emotions go through your mind.
If I woke up every day attempting to be my father, I would fail miserably. I think he was anointed. He was chosen by God, and there are few men or women in our world that will be chosen by God to make the kind of impact that he made.
The task is not done. The journey is not complete. We can and we must do more.Collection: Journey