MLK day is a holiday that triggers a lot of mixed feeings for me. Martin Luther King, Jr. is probably one of the few people I consider a hero, and I find it especially inspiring that on this MLK Day, an American man of color who has won the Nobel Peace Prize and has risen to a position of leadership with a message of hope and change can suggest that we honor another man who did exactly the same thing. I hope that’s where the similarities end, and that’s the main reason this day of rememberance gives me such mixed feelings. Probably no American figure of the last century brought the message that truth and love can conquer almost anything with more power and diginity than Martin Luther King, Jr., and sadly, it has seemed to be a trend in recent American history that peace-minded leaders meet their demise at the hands of assassins. I’m not a conspiracy nut by any stretch, but one has to be ignorant to believe that the deaths of JFK, RFK, MLK, or even possibly Paul Wellstone were not the result of their being forces for peace in a world run by militant, angry, frightened white men. If I were Paul Wellstone’s family, I probably wouldn’t want Dick Cheney at the funeral either. In the case of MLK, even his family didn’t believe that James Earle Ray was the killer, and in spite of lengthy assurances from the Justice Department that they got the right man, there were never conclusive results that his gun was the one used in the assassination. To me this would be a much more meaningful day if we could at least know for sure who was truly behind the death of such a great man. In spite of all this, King is proof that you can kill a great man, but not kill his message. On that note, a few of my favorite MLK quotes are below.

On Love, Truth & Peace-

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

Means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.

With A Little Dark Humor -

Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.