If I could interview Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr 1929-1968

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

Maybe he shouldn't have done it.  I mean his life was already going well.  He was born to a prestigious family of pastors, well educated and living a middle class lifestyle.  Yes, there were struggles faced by many of his/our people that plagued his heart, but his family was okay.  Why worry about other people?

There are some things I've always wondered about Dr. King, while I grew up.  My interest in him when I was little had a lot to do with the lax teaching about Black/Africa-American history in the schools I attended.  So often, a lesson on Dr. King's I have a dream speech, was all we received. 

Then learning that his birthday was the day after mine, made me as a little elementary school girl feel some kinda special.  So I often wondered about him.  What was he thinking?  Why did he care whether or not Black and White people went to school, road buses, dined, or anything else together?  And ultimately...why did he have to die?

Of course I never met Dr. King, so everything I write is what I imagine an interview with him would be like.

SPECIAL EDITION OF WHAT HE SAID: A CONVERSATION WITH MY GUY FRIEND.

Today's Guy: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
How do I know him:  He was a pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement
Today's Topic:  Was his sacrifice worth it?

Me:  You know people view you as the last great Black leader, but it has been over sixty years since that time, and people are still waiting on a leader. What do you think about that?

MLK:  I never saw myself as a leader. Not in the sense that others define leadership.  I was just a man doing the will of God in the best way I knew how.  God calls us all to serve mankind.  That was my purpose, so I chose to accept it and go forward in it.

Me:  What do you think about the Black community continuing to wait on A leader?

MLK:  You know, I've learned the philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois.  Neither ever said that you should wait on anyone to do anything that needs to get done.  I follow the principles of Christ, and understand that we have been endowed with the spirit to move at the beckoning of the Lord not at the call of man.

Me:  People celebrate you every year in very interesting ways.  What do you think about the notion of a day that celebrates your life and the monument they are building with your image on it?

MLK:  I was but a man.  A common man doing the work my Heavenly Father had for me here.  Too often people look for a man to cast their cares upon and worship.  None is good but the Father.  When I was called home, my work here was done.  I'm not saying that I wish for myself to be forgotten.  What I desire in my heart is that the work I did and the life I lived, spoke for me.  And that while others carry on their lives that they think of how they might make the lives of their brothers and sisters more bearable.

Me:  I often listen to your I've Been to the Mountaintop speech, and wonder if you were ever afraid.  For your life or those of your wife and children?

MLK:  I knew that the life I began to live would bring with it a certain element of danger.  I could not allow whatever apprehension I felt to cripple me, therefore causing an end to a movement that was necessary to free our people from the chains of Jim Crow and the slave houses of segregation.  So I couldn't worry about me.

Me:  If you look at how things are today, would you have done what you did?  Was it all worth it?

MLK:   Though some things I see today causes my heart to be weary, I see hope where there once was none.  I choose to call everyone to their greatest existence.  I am not a man who lived a mistake free life.  So I try not to look at people as castaways.  It grieves me greatly to see a lot of the dysfunction, hurt, and dispair that we visit upon each other. But I know through God's love, repentence and the will to do better, we can overcome many of life's obstacles.  So every thing I did in my life was worth it.

Me:  I just have one more question. I mean, I thought of a million things I wanted to ask, but somehow I was led this way.  What do you tell someone who no longer dreams or never had a dream to begin with? I know that sounds a little cliche, but I mean it.  How can people find within themselves the will and strength to do great things?

MLK: Young lady, the life we live is a dream within itself.  No one knows what you have in store for your life or what you are capable of as you come into this world.  See, the only one who knew you prior to your earthly existence was God.  And He said in his word, Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.


You see, God has a purpose for your life, is what I'd say to everyone today.  No matter what the world may tell you, what dispersions society may cast upon you, even when your own family turns their back on you...there is no way and no will that can deter you from achieving amazing things as long as God is your leader, guider, and confidant. 

It amazes me still, when parents fail to go give their children the gift of dreaming.  It is as if the world has beat them down and they continue to the detrimental curse.  But I still believe that hope exists for the hopeless, that love exists for the loveless, that dreams are available to the dreamless.  So I tell these young people and old people, that dreams do not stop when someone tries to stop you. 

Dreams do not stop when you are done living your life.  Dreams do not end with the accomplishments of certain goals.  Dreams go beyond any earthly manna that you may receive.  You see dreams...those visions that the Creator Himself blesses you with before the world has ever laid an eye upon you, continue when you learn that there is no earthly power that can stop you.