Today is Martin Luther King Jr's birthday.  (The official US holiday is on Monday.) 

I've long been enthralled with Martin Luther King (I even did a huge project on his life and death in grade 5).  I firmly believe in the power of words, and King was (in my mind) one of the best wordsmiths of all time. 

In a time where it would have been so easy to let things stay the same, and to let the Jim Crow laws in the southern US dictate a way of life, Martin Luther King stood up for something that he truly believed in.

He did not back down in the face of violence, though he would not respond with violence himself.

He chose to use his education and his intellect to win his battles, rather than taking up the sword.

He chose to use his gifts to further the cause of Civil Rights in the United States.

Most of all, he chose to live his life in public, knowing that his speaking engagements and public appearances posed a threat to his safety.

He influenced countless people to live a little bit better, and to be a little bit better, and to think of others before themselves. 

He spoke some of the most powerful words I have ever heard, and I think that my life is just a little bit richer for having heard them. I think, though, that people who got to be in the same space as Martin Luther King, and hear him speak live are among the luckiest on the planet.  I hope they know that.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!