Dr Martin Luther King Video

Speakers: Belinda Brown, Senior Manager, Human Resources. Jes Lipson, CEO. Andrea Cooper, Senior Account Executive. Nate Spilker, Chief Analytics Officer

At this time, I have the honor to present to you the moral leader of our nation. I have the pleasure to present to you Dr Martin Luther King.

Jes Lipson: One of the things I admire the most about Dr Martin Luther King Junior was the unique approach and philosophy that he took to driving so much change and making so much progress on, on civil rights in America, which is really centered around nonviolent protest and taking the high road when so many of his opponents were taking the low road. And it just, I think requires an incredible amount of moral discipline to persevere and to take that high road and to use peaceful protest as a driver for change. And I think what he accomplished is a testament to the fact that as hard as it is to take that high road and, and use nonviolent protest as, as a way to drive change it, it's incredibly effective. And here we are, um 50 plus years, I think after, after his death that he's still being celebrated for what a unique figure he has been for us in, in American history.

Doctor King, how are things shaping up now for tomorrow? Things are shaping up beautifully. We have people coming in from all over the country.

Andrea Cooper: MLK Day is significant for so many reasons. But I think it's really important that we all remember it wasn't that long ago that there were American citizens being denied basic human rights based solely on the color of their skin. And remembering those that fought for those rights and making sure it doesn't get whitewashed out of history. Like so many things do in this country. I mean, it took 15 years for it to even be recognized as a federal holiday after King's assassination. And then another two years after that, for it to be a federally recognized holiday in all 50 states. I also celebrate it each year by checking my white privilege and taking the time to reflect on this country's history and where we currently stand with racial divide and try to think of ways that we can progress forward as a country and be inclusive of all.

It was a form of racial discrimination. Most of the African Americans stayed.

Nate Spilker: A number of years ago on one of our family trips to Washington DC, we went to the National Mall and made it a point to spend the majority of our time at the MLK Memorial. It's really a stunning, beautiful, humbling and inspiring place. And while my wife and I loved it, our kids might have been a little young at the time to take it all in. But what I soon realized after we left was that it was really important moment for my kids to plant the seed. That Dr King was not just an important historical figure, but was someone who should always serve as a role model in their life. I can think of no better role model for my kids than Doctor Martin Luther King. Someone who lived a life of service, a life of empathy and compassion, a life fighting for equality, but never choosing violence, a life where people are defined by their character, what they do and how they do it and never their physical characteristics. So for me today is a day to pause and remember and honor one of our history's most influential and positively impactful people and a day for me to be thankful that his teachings live on and that my kids have a role model in Doctor King.

In DC on the National Mall. The Martin Luther King Jr Memorial is a fitting tribute to Dr King's leadership in the civil rights movement. Doctor King's Drive.

Nate Spilker: My favorite Doctor Martin Luther King quote is from a speech that he gave at the National Cathedral in it. He said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. I, I love this quote because it embodies the ideas of hope that real change can sometimes take a long time and then a long term perspective is needed and that doing the right thing matters and that ultimately doing good and justice perseveres.

How long? Not long I can live. How long? Not long because you put your phone, how long you grab on the T is wrong on the phone. And that plays the future behind the unknown standard God within the shadow keeping watch above his own. How long? Not long a of the moral universe is long, but it's been sort of yourself. How long? Because my eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Jes Lipson: The speech of Martin Luther King Junior that resonates with me the most is, is I've been to the Mountain Top speech, which I think is, it's a little bit of an eerie speech because it was delivered. It was his last speech, it was delivered the day before his assassination. And if you, there's some kind of uh hints in the speech that it's almost like uh foretelling the fact that he knows, he, he may not make it to see the, the vision that he's realized. And it's almost kind of kind of eerie that uh it foreshadows his assassin assassination the next day. But um I think in the speech, he was talking about the strike for the Memphis sanitation workers and really just underlying his philosophy of non violent protest as a way to drive change. But he kind of says like Moses, he has seen the promised land, he sees the vision of what he he's doing and what, what the movement can accomplish, but he may not personally be there to realize the, the vision. And so I think it's just a very powerful speech, not his most well known speech of the I have a dream speech. But, um, it was something that last Martin Luther King Day we played in, in the office and, um, and I listened to the full speech a couple of times. And so I think the combination of it's a really good way to distill his philosophy with the, the fact that it happened the day before his assassination makes it really powerful to me.

Andrea Cooper: While the I have a dream speech is probably one of the most inspirational speeches I've ever and will ever hear my personal favorite speech that King gave was the SMU proud to be maladjusted speech. I think that that one really resonates with me because it is so easy for people to look at things and say, well, this was put into place by our government that so many of us blindly follow and accept to be just and good because it's put in place by the government and there's an overruling majority, but it's so important that we don't forget to step back and reflect and not just follow the leader, we all have a responsibility to stop and think. And any time we see something happen that, you know, kind of makes us scratch our head or say, hm, could there be something wrong with what I just saw to really look in more and take any other influence out and think about what you actually feel because oftentimes what everyone else is doing and that group consensus might not be right. And in this speech, he said that he won't adjust to things like racism and segregation and that he is proud to be maladjusted and proud to stand against the grain and not conform to that. And I think that's something really important that we should take into our everyday lives.

Probably use more than any other word in psychology. It is the word maladjusted. It is a ringing cry of modern child psychology. Maladjusted. Now, of course, we all want to live the well adjusted life in order to avoid neurotic and schizophrenic personalities. But as I move toward my conclusion, I would like to say to you today in a very honest manner, there are some things in our society and some things in our world which I'm proud to be maladjusted and I call upon all men of goodwill to be maladjusted to these things until the good society is realized. I must honestly say to you that I never intend to adjust myself through racial segregation and discrimination. I never intend to adjust myself to religious bigotry. I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few leave millions of God's Children smothering in an air tight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society.

Belinda Brown: A leader of all people. Doctor Martin Luther King junior never chose fear but always chose courage and determination when fighting for civil rights in the face of oppression, ignorance and violence. Doctor King maintained a vision for a more inclusive America where all people enjoyed the benefits of equality. I was 12 years old when the first national Doctor King holiday was observed, my parents instilled in myself and my brothers to observe Doctor King's holiday as a day to serve our community. My Children observe in the same manner since celebrating Doctor King's holiday as a day of service is a way to commemorate and celebrate Doctor King's influence, not a day off but a day on four. In the iconic words of Doctor King, faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

Andrea Cooper: There are so many ways that we can take Dr King's teachings and apply them to our everyday lives. And some are as simple as just keeping your eyes wide open, not blindly conforming, staying ma adjusted when appropriate, of course. Um But you know, just really making sure, you know what's going on and that you agree with what's going on and if not that you do something about it, you know, say something stay vigilant when it comes to government, know who's in office. And I'm not just talking about the president comes down to local, that's what's going on in your backyard. And not to mention the president can only do so much with all the checks and balances. So if we at least make sure that, you know, the, the locals that the state representatives that were putting people in office that aren't trying to push us backwards, then, you know, that can make a big impact.

Jes Lipson: In terms of how people today can contribute to promoting equality and justice in communities. Using Martin Luther King's teachings. I think um the first way is just kind of the core of his message, which was around non violent protest, which to me, you know, basically means taking the high road and um not sinking to the level of those who are promoting inequality and injustice in order to try to accomplish um the higher goals of justice and equality, which is a very difficult thing to do. But I think that's also why Martin Luther King was so powerful and effective in, in what he did, which is taking the high road when, when others may be taking a lower road. Um The other thing that the Martin Luther King talked about was uh kind of the power of economic influence. So, um you know, voting with your, your wallet and voting with your, your feet because sometimes from practical perspective, the companies you do business with or um the, the way that you uh you make your economic decisions can have a really powerful influence. And I think that's something that Martin Luther King talked about as Well.

So I had absolutely no idea what was happening. At the time, I began to realize how important uh my walk through those doors back in 1960 was. And, um, probably about the eighties, I was, I believe 17 or 18 years old when I was asked to, to do an interview, and the reporter showed me a copy of the Norman Rockwell painting, even though I was accustomed to looking at old magazines and uh eyes on the prize and seeing all that footage. I understood that it was important, but it didn't really hit me until I saw the Norman Rockwell painting. And I realized that it wasn't something that just uh happened in New Orleans, but it was something that people all across the country all across the world actually recognized, uh especially through the painting. And I always say that the lesson I took away was a lesson that Dr King tried to teach all of us. And that was that we should never look at a person and judge them by the color of their skin. That is the lesson that I learned in that classroom at six years old. Simply because I crossed a picket line, a mob every day for a whole year, they were all white screaming, yelling, threatening to harm me. And yet every day when I entered the building, there was a woman there to greet me and she was also white. And I remember not really knowing what to expect from her if she was going to be exactly like the people outside, but she did everything she could to make my day, uh filled with fun. And uh I love learning. She not only taught me but she read stories to me and we played games and we did music and everything. Um, to the point that, um, I never missed a day that whole year, I knew that if I got past the mob in inside of the building, I was gonna have a great day and it was because of her. So she showed me her heart and I began to realize that there was no way she was like the people outside. I couldn't judge her the same way. So I believe at that moment I learned the lesson of Doctor King died trying to teach us. And that is, as I said, you cannot look at a person and Josh them by the color of their skin. Um, that shaped me into who I am today.