Today we celebrate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
We also celebrate the long, hard struggle for civil rights and equality in America-a struggle that has come a very long way, but still has not ended.
Dr, King was many things to many people. He became the face of a great movement, the symbol of hope for the future.
But he was not some mythic being. He was flesh and blood. A man who had greatness thrust upon him. And he was up to the challenge.
He was a man of faith. Faith in God above, certainly. He was a minister of the Gospel after all. But faith in his fellow man, faith that eventually we as human beings would do what is right and recognize the worth of every human, regardless of race, creed or color.
He was a man of courage. He stood with dignity as indignities came his way. He braved insults and threats. He was jailed. His reputation attacked, his name smeared. But he didn't give up.
He was a man of peace. The South was a dangerous place for all African Americans, but more so for a black man who went against the system. The danger didn't come just from the Ku Klux Klan and angry mobs, but from the police and public officials as well. It's natural to want to fight back. But he pursued his goal without violence, certain his cause was just and his path was righteous.
He was a man with a dream. He saw a better future for men and women of all races. He understood that our nation could only achieve its potential if every American was treated equally, treated fairly, treated with respect. He foresaw a day "when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"
Even after he was assassinated that day in Memphis in 1968, his dream lived on in the hearts and souls of those who followed him and it continues today in those not even born when he died.
So on this day we should all take time to remember that freedom in America is something that belongs to all of us, no matter what race, color or creed.