Martin Luther King Jr.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., graduated from Morehouse College in 1948, Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951, and Boston University earning a Ph.D. in 1955. The son of the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, King was ordained in 1947. In 1955 he led the black boycott of segregated city bus lines and in 1956 gained a major victory and prestige as a civil-rights leader when Montgomery buses began to operate on a desegregated basis.

King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which gave him a base to pursue further civil-rights activities, first in the South and later nationwide. His philosophy of nonviolent resistance led to his arrest on numerous occasions in the 1950s and 60s. His campaigns had mixed success, but the protest he led in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 brought him worldwide attention. He spearheaded the August 1963, March on Washington, which brought together more than 200,000 people. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

King's leadership in the civil-rights movement was challenged in the mid-1960s as others grew more militant. His interests, however, widened from civil rights to include criticism of the Vietnam War and a deeper concern over poverty. His plans for a Poor People's March to Washington were interrupted in 1968 for a trip to Memphis, Tenn., in support of striking sanitation workers. On April 4, 1968, he was shot and killed as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. The Lorraine Motel was established in 1991 as a civil-rights museum.

Here is an excerpt from his acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.

I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. 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. I believe that even amid today's mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will proclaim the rule of the land. "And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid." I still believe that We Shall overcome!

Enjoy the Holiday.

Dan Rogers

The Golden Rule

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Its fairly simple, isn't it? If you want it done to you - do it to someone else ... and if you don't want it to happen to you, don't 'happen' to someone else.

Steven R. Covey in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People asks this question; "How would life be different if everyone on the planet observed this simple rule?" My guess is the world we all live in (and complain about) can change and experience transformation, if not out right reform, when we all decide a different take on our actions.

This is Samuel 'Golden Rule' Jones.

Samuel Milton "Golden Rule" Jones became Mayor of the great City of Toledo on February 25, 1897. That day would usher in a nearly two decade period of reform government in the city and would propel Mayor Jones to national and even international fame.

As mayor Jones aligned himself with the progressive forces of Toledo who had long championed greater municipal regulation of the economy. With their help Jones succeeded in securing the city's first civil service system, fostered the growth of the city's park system, cracked down on police brutality, and expanded relief programs for the indigent and poor. Unlike other progressives, Jones did not believe in using the city's police power to enforce morality. He refused to prosecute prostitutes or shut down beer halls. Whenever he could, Jones presided over the city's police court and dismissed most of the cases brought before him out of sympathy for the poor. The poor, Jones said, "have no money, they have no council and for petty offenses that are not offenses at all when committed by the rich, they are fined, imprisoned, disgraced and degraded."

Helen Beach Jones, Samuel M. Jones's second wife, was born in Toledo on April 28, 1857. She was his helpmate during the years he made national history as the mayor of Toledo. She composed music, gave lessons, and was active in the Toledo Women's club, the Samagama Club, and laid the groundwork for Beach house, a homeless women's shelter named for her mother.

The Beach House continues to this day as a shelter for women and children to experience life transformation.

The Golden Rule people .... what do you think?

Dan