King's message deserves reflection

This year marks 30 years since Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal holiday after President Ronald Reagan signed it into law three years prior. Every third Monday of January since, the nation turns its eyes to Dr. King, and we again reflect on the man, his message and his legacy.

Ask anyone what they know about King, and the phrase most likely to be uttered is "I Have a Dream." Though that speech, perhaps the greatest oratory ever delivered, is certainly not the totality of his accomplishments, who can deny that it serves his legacy well? In it, he managed to speak to America's ills, as well as her potential. He hailed the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, while decrying discrimination still existing a hundred years later. He called out police brutality while praising the value of unearned suffering. Such juxtapositions painted the full picture of the state of the union, and no one could deliver it better than Dr. King.

Unlike many voices today, he managed to speak the truth as he saw it -- without fanning the flames of despair. Somehow, even the ugly facts of a nation in racial turmoil and violence resonated with hope as they came from the lips of this fiery southern preacher.

We cannot help but wonder what his reaction would be to what's going on today. The second term of America's first African American president is approaching a conclusion. What would King say about President Obama's election and presidency? What would he say about the success in sports and Hollywood that many African Americans enjoy today, doors wide open that were once shut tight? On the other hand, how would he respond to the high level of black unemployment and fatherless families? In the wake of the Ferguson riots, the Black Lives Matter movement and Chicago gun violence, where would Dr. King stand?

We cannot speak for him, and he is obviously not here to speak for himself, but these are questions that need asking. Having paid the highest price to push his dream closer to reality, he deserves that reflection. He lived a life of sacrifice and died the same way. That is his legacy, and that is the mantle he has left for us to pick up as we advance the dream for which he will ever be remembered.