Where do we go from here?

The more I read of Dr. King the more I respect him. His understanding of human nature seems infinite and uncluttered by external distractions. In Dr. King's speech "where do we go from here" he continues to impress me with his skills of leadership and drive towards the goal of complete freedom.

The purpose of the speech was to voice that even though they've made some victories they are not done and to inform them where they stood in the big picture thus far. Dr. King does a great job of working along side the people that he is leading and showing them how they're going to beat segregation. He comes off as just one of their own, a normal guy, and that was attractive to his followers.

"First, We must massively assert our dignity and worth."

"Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against a long night of physical slavery"

"We must work passionately and unrelentingly for first-class citizenship."

"We must never let up in our determination to remove every vestige of segregation..."

And probably my favorite quote of the speeches so far:

"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love."

Also, I thought this is a way was funny just because the job he is referring to is his job.

"The job of arousing manhood within a people that have been taught for so many centuries that they are nobody is not easy"

Nashville Civil Rights

The main thing that caught my attention was how much differently I would think about issues today if it weren't for MLK and the civil rights movement. It was interesting to see the diverse group of people they interviewed. The first being the white soccer-mom (what she would've been referred to today) who believed it was a violation her own civil rights by not allowing her to choose who she gets to serve and not serve. Another interview that was interesting was the group of teenaged boys. One of the boys specifically said that he wasn't raised around African Americans and he didn't want to have to adapt to living around them because he wouldn't know how. All of the people interviewed who were against the civil rights movement in Nashville sounded unintelligent. They avoided the real reason they had a problem with the movement; that they just didn't like African Americans.

MLKJR

Up until today I only knew a few things that Dr. King had accomplished in his life. After reading a bit, I feel like I've learned what's was more important and that is who he was. He has an uncanny ability to boil issues down to their source, a deep thorough understanding of human nature, and a humble but wise approach on taking action. He wasn't narrow minded he just saw the most effective way to take action and didn't stray from that path. I get this notion mainly from his elementary explanation of nonviolent action and why he believe this is the best manner for reform.
"Violence solves no social problems; it merely creates new and more complicated ones."
"True peace is not merely the absence of some negative force-tension, confusion or war; it is the presence of some positive force-justice, good will and brotherhood."
"We are out to defeat injustice and not white persons who may happen to be unjust." (I loved this quote because reveals the purity of Dr. Kings motives, heart, and character)
In these quotes I like how he outlines where injustice lies and why action needs to take place and explains it in its rudiments.
"Nonviolent resistance doesn't seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding."
"At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love"
He may have only been twenty six but he had a gift of understanding and foresight and leadership. It makes me excited to learn more from him as we read.

PBS

As I watched the documentary on Obama's presidential race and the events leading up to that point I took a couple notes on specific things that caught my attention or provoked me to analyze certain words a little deeper. One of my favorite parts was the reference to Barack's first time in the senate. Barack was a rookie (if you will) and because of that he was the last person with the opportunity to have a chance to voice his opinion. Barack passes a note back that says "shoot. me. now." the note was responding to Senator Biden who apparently was incessantly talking and talking. I found this ironic obviously because he would go on to be his vice president.

One of the main things that perked my curiosity as to what motivated Barack at this time was when an interviewee said that Barack was "on a quest to find a church home and to put down his roots". When Barack was trying to breach into Chicago politics he chose a church for the qualities it had such as, big and popular amongst the black community, and many of its members were the black elite in Chicago. The way I understood Barack was that he needed this connection with the black community because they didn't see him as one of their own. Later, when Barack decides not to let Reverend Wright introduce him before he announced his candidacy for president it appears that Barack is separating himself from that image that benefited him before but now that he needs to go beyond the connection with the African Americans of Chicago and to the average white American. My whole problem with this is that he is forming this public image to best benefit himself and that is a contradiction to "dreams of my father". In his book he is striving to find who he is and "to be an individual" no matter what the outside influence is.