The Daily Mississippian staff has been talking about this special edition commemorating the work and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. since last year. I am proud of the content we’ve produced, and I hope every reader learns something new and finishes the paper inspired.
It’s hard to graduate elementary school without knowing of King and his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. He’s a man who has been in all of our lives in some capacity, whether in history textbooks or family memories. Known as a fierce advocate for equality across all spectrums, and always preaching with love rather than hate, King is someone we can all look to today for guidance.
We are not far removed from April 4, 1968, and although tremendous hurdles have been cleared, there is more work to be done.
Living in a time when social media makes it easier than ever for anyone to become an activist, and living on a campus that seems to be a hot spot for racial conversations, we need to continue to look to King’s teaching and practices.
The day before his assassination, King gave his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. An excerpt from the speech is featured on today’s front page. Less than 100 miles up the road in Memphis, he said, “And also in the human rights revolution, if something isn’t done, and done in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed. Now, I’m just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period to see what is unfolding.”
I, too, am happy to bear witness to this unfolding, and I hope that, in the future, the pages of The Daily Mississippian will be able to celebrate more activists like King and that, one day, the world will see the same hope for the civil rights movement as he did.
-Lana Ferguson, editor-in-chief
