This morning I woke up to a fantastic radio article that was just starting on BBC radio 4. The subject of the article was of the celebration of Martin Luther King Junior. The way that the article was delivered was fascinating. It was presented by a man called John Lewis who is the last surviving member of the big six leader's of the American civil rights movement. John Lewis was 23 years old at the time of the I Have a Dream speech, when he went to listen to the civil rights rally. So he told his story about what the day was like for him, from the perspective of someone who was there. He had traveled for miles across America to hear all of the speaker's that day. But little did he know that the last speech that day, that turned out to be by MLK would set the course for the rest of his life.
But the moment within the programme that really sent shiver's down my spine was when some of today's most influential human and civil right's leader's each read a section of the speech. The reader's included leader's such as the Dalai Lama, singer's such as Stevie Wonder and writer's such as Maya Angelou. What was most surprising was that some paragraph's although not all, could have been written today. If you had just turned on the radio, not realising what was on. You would assume a political speaker was talking about a current situation. And this is one of the many reasons why we celebrate the speech today as being still relevant and still inspirational.
The I have a dream speech is one of the most infamous speeches ever delivered. Some of the reasons why it resonates to each person are personal, but there were some aspects of that day other than the inspiring speech that are arguably stand out moments. Such as the fact that it was not only people of African American origins that stood to hear Luther King speak. Men and women, young and old, black and white stood side by side to hear what he had to say. Aside from the obvious answer that they knew history was being made, I believe another reason for the mass attendance of all different people from all different backgrounds was that they knew something. The answer for which is in the speech. "they have come to realise that their destiny is tied up with our destiny" Martin Luther King Junior, 1963.
For me this quotation sums up the fight towards diabetes, that it's not a battle just for people with the condition. Yes we might be the ones that have it now, but our past and present are inter-linked with those who do not yet have the condition. Which will be many in more in the future. And we have a responsibility now to act, campaign and support on their behalf. So that when people are diagnosed in the future they have the treatment and the support they need and have a right to.
0 comments:
Post a Comment