Martin Luther King

Yesterday was Martin Luther King day -- officially "Human Rights day" and I somehow didn't make the connection with him and what I'm trying to do here.

Today at school (I'm an elementary school principal) we talked about who Martin Luther King was and what he did to change the world. My school is very multi-ethnic and in a very low, socio-economic area. An area where many blacks and hispanics live. So many kids had no idea who Martin Luther King was.

Today I learned he had been stabbed by a black woman and was hospitalized. He was at a book signing for one of his books and a black woman came up, asked him if he was Martin Luther King, then stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener. He was rushed to a Harlem hospital and endured a three hour operation before beginning his recuperation at the hospital. He asked that the woman not be put in jail, but instead be placed in a psych ward where she could get the help she needed. (If you read the beginning of her statement you can see she was certain MLK and his cronies were after her and were stopping her from getting work). If you read MLK's statement from the hospital, you can see he is a man of peace...and a man on a mission. His closing line shows his commitment to the cause.

"Finally, although my thoughts have never left the Freedom struggle, I am intensely impatient to rejoin my friends and colleagues to continue the work we all know must be done regardless of the cost."

Regardless of the cost. He knew. He knew what he was doing was pushing the envelope and putting himself at risk. And yet he could not rest.