Tomorrow's Martin Luther Kings
On January 1 5 we will
-once again celebrate the
birthdas of ^ great American
and citi/en ot the world: Dr.
Martin Luther King. Jr.
Many school children will
recite his 1 Have a Dream
speech given at the 1963
March on Washington and we
will pay tribute to a great
religious and moral leader ot
our lifetime.
But in the course of
-remembermg Dr. King s life,
..it's important to remember
that when he came into t he
nation's limelight as a leader
of the Montgomery bus boy
cott in 1955 he was only 26
y ears old.
As the civil rights mova
nt nt showed here in the
United States and the anti
apartheid movement did im
South Africa, young people
are often in the forefront of
social change.
Who, them, aro tho futuro
Martin Luthor King, Jr. in
our timo?" Who are the
Noting people who are work
ing for justice for their peo
ple.
While the media often
igm?re the stories of young*
pcopje \vorking for positive
change, the good news is
there are many young people
v horare about the business of
justice for all. Here are the
stories of just two of them.
Angela Brown
Angela Brown is the only
American winner of the
Reebok 'Human Rights
Award, an international
a*
aw aid honoring young
human,rights activists work
ing on t he front lines for
social change. We in the
Commission for Racial
Justice are especially proud
ot Angela because we have
watched and encouraged her
from age 14, when she orga
nized young -people around
education and voter registra
tion.
A child of the civil rights
movement, she has been
involved in the environmen
tal justice movement from its
inception- and Angela now
wofis with/fne Southern
\ ^
Organizing Committee and
GreenpeTTcS in organizing
young people across the
South around environmental
justice issues.
Her successful work
he.lped to prevent the installa
tion of PVC plant in Wallace,
Louisiana and a hazardous
waste incinerator in
nuxxubbe, Mississippi. She
up again.
Justin was named North
Dakota Indian Student of the
Year in 1994 by the North
Dakota Indian Education
Association and was selected
for Who's Who for three con
secutive years. A natural
leader, Justin has served as
National Vice-Chair for
UNITY, the United National
I n d i a n Tribal Youth
Organization.
UNITY believes that as
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL
Bernice Powell Jackson
is also an assistant pastor at
Saint Delight UCC in
Louisburg, N.C.
To today's young people,
Angela Brown says, "Our
generation is faced with a
continual epidemic of drugs,
the cpJture of violence, the
sin of racism, the pain of
miseducation, the divisive
ness of class, and the indeci
siveness to truly end sexist
oppression. As young people
we can not continue to aid in
these kinds of environmental
atrocities." It is our human
right all over this world to
work, live and play in a
healthy environment. I hope
all people, but especially
young people, will hear my
call to struggle and demand
their human rights."
Justin Deegan
Justin Deegan is a n
Arickara/Sioux from the Fort
Berthold Indian Reservation
in North Dakota.
Currently a student at the
University of North Dakota
State University at Fargo.
Justin's Indian name is We
C h a S h a N a h z i n, w h i c h
means "Standing Man" in
Dakota Sioux, a name given
to him by his father who
taught him that "when a man
falls down, he must get back
Indian youth, their members
can make changes^through
their 12 inter-related goals -
Unity, Spiritually, FamiJ-yr
Heritage. Health,
Environment, Sovereignty,
Mental, Service, Education^
Physical and Community.
An athlete and scholar,
Justin is also a ' Sunday
School teacher in the church
which his mother pastprs in
Bismarck.
Justin is working with
other Indian youth to make
the world a better place for^
themselves and their people,
he says, "I have become
more aware of education for
myself and for other Indian
youth. I realize it is a tool
for us to become more pros
perous and spiritual.
Throughout my journey I
have dedicated myself toward
protecting our environment
and being drug/alcohol free."
One of Justin's role mod
els is Senator Ben Nighthor.se
. Campbell and he hopes to
one day be elected to public
office and serve in
Washington.
Justin Doogan and
Angela Brown are just two of
our future Martin Luther
King, Jrs. I think Dr. King
would be proud.
(Bernice Powell Jackson
is Executive Director of
United Church of Christ
Commission For Racial
Justice.)
o
o
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther!
\'T
. * -i.'M?? '?
'."xSW.
king. Jr. said that injustice any-^Bfyp
where was a threat to justice!
everywhere. He said this about ' -:.T ?. -' .v.
segregation and discrimination:
"Let us never succumb to the^B - ' -v ?
..'.V- ? ,;v '
temptation of believing tnat legis-!
lation and judicial decrees play I
only a minor role in solving this!
problem. Morality cannot be leg
islated. but behavior can be regu
ated. Judicial decrees may not ?XV
O
change the heart, but they can
restrain the heartless." (Quotation^?
from Strength of Love)
What might Dr. King have
said about our current treatment of
the immature members of our
pedes-! ^
^ Dl" King devoted Ins life to
U opposing the choice to discrimi-| "
't'% -- ^
natc on the basis of race. But one
week after his birthday we
observe the anniversary of the
Roe v. Wade decision, which freed
us to choose to discriminate fatal
y on the basis <$f "wontcdness,"
physical maturity, appearance,
sex, health, dependence, sen
tience. parentage, or any other cri
terion, including race, if it is done
before nirth.
Are these criteria any less
arbitrary or subjective than race7
By what logic shall we choose cri
teria for excluding others from t
he protection of the human com
munity? What does the accep
tance of such criteria for destruc
tion say about the content of our
character0
Sincerely,
a
.
\ . ' ' ; T"r~7^ \ ' A- ?
: , r I I,, j ,
f f
Injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere/'
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
I his |)a?e
is dedicated to
a man
who didn't see
the world in
black and white
Martin Luther King Day, January 16, 1996
1 I
G0Uf
"I have # 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."
Rr\ Mart in Luther Kma Jr
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