To millions of people around the world, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights icon whose faith and activism recalibrated the course of American history toward justice. To Martin Luther King III, he was “dad.”
In a very special event at Garrett Hall this week, King told stories of his childhood and shared his lifelong vision of building a stronger, more connected and caring community, which is the theme of his new book, “What is My Legacy? Realizing a New Dream of Connection, Love and Fulfillment.” The event was sponsored by the UVA Center for Politics, where King is a professor of practice, and hosted by the UVA Batten School.
In a conversation with Batten Dean Ian H. Solomon, King recalled his father as being fun and playful with him and his three siblings, though he was away more and more as the years passed. Sometimes King travelled with his father and saw how he interacted with the people who came to see him speak, “literally shaking everyone’s hand. It was so interesting to see that kind of dedication, that people were waiting to get a message of inspiration and were encouraged to be engaged.”
The young King was 10 when his father was assassinated in 1968. Just four days after her husband’s murder, Coretta Scott King led the march in Memphis that he had planned. In the coming days, and years, she would remain a paragon of strength for the family, and the nation, King said.
To commemorate his father’s upcoming 100th birthday in 2029, King wanted to create a framework that would bring people together. Last year, he announced a partnership with the National Football League to launch “Realizing the Dream,” an initiative involving all NFL teams that calls on communities across the country and the world to engage in 100 million hours of service.
The aim is to provide an antidote to the profound disconnectedness the world is experiencing at this moment, he said. That message is echoed in the book, which he and his wife, Arndrea Waters King, and two cowriters published in January. A podcast derived from the book was launched on January 20.
“Our technology, as great as it, is currently disconnecting us. It’s not bringing us together enough. I mean, there are so many challenges now. So, it’s critically important that we learn all of our history, not from a guilt perspective, but a collective responsibility,” King told the audience Monday evening.
King was asked by a student what to do when “it feels like it’s not possible to overcome the odds, where it seems like the fight isn’t worth fighting anymore.” King replied that throughout history, for every movement toward justice, there is an “inevitable pushback.”
“You have to fortify yourself, through meditation, through prayer — any number of modalities. You have to understand who you are.” And then, he said, you have to remember all who came before who suffered and persevered, and pivot to begin the work again of engaging, connecting, and building a better society.
“Don’t give up, don’t give out, don’t give in.”
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