MLK Jr. — The Type of Leader We Need

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We’re in the midst of the worst political climate and political situation I’ve seen in my lifetime in the United States. I could go into all of those problems, but that would be counter to the actual point of this article. Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and I wanted to write this article in reference to that to commemorate the man and the day, but I got caught up doing US electric vehicle sales reports (with more to come). That said, Martin Luther King Jr. can and should be celebrated any day of the year! So we’ll just treat this as Martin Luther King Jr. Week.

As critical, inhumane, and combative as things are today in the United States around issues of race, nationality, and basic human rights, it seems they were even much worse in the 1960s during the civil rights movement. It’s hard to imagine how we came out of that conflict in a positive way — and, clearly, many of those problems still persist. However, one reason we did come through it in a positive way is because of how Martin Luther King Jr. approached the situation.

It’s easy today to be constantly negative. One political party lives on negativity, griping, and scapegoating, and the other political party largely lives on fighting the demise of our democracy, the crumbling of our rule of law and balance of powers, and outright corruption. But no one is truly inspiring us. It’s mostly about fear, destruction, and dread.

MLK Jr. was most famous for his “I Have A Dream” speech. He presented a vision of a better world, a brighter world, a more peaceful world. He tried to unite, despite the horrendous division and violence of the time.

How do we unite again?

It’s a very hard question. Media sources are so splintered and, frankly, untethered from the truth. Social media encourages anger, division, and hate. There is less and less shared culture as people get more and more niche for their entertainment. A massively popular, “viral” speech still may be invisible to more than half the country.

Nonetheless, despite the challenges, it seems to me that one of the best things we could use is an inspirational dreamer who can reach across the country, who can touch hearts of all kinds, who can truly unite much more of the country rather than focusing on dividing it. Does that seem impossible right now? Sort of. Are the current challenges greater than those MLK Jr. was up against?

Naturally, a brighter future means happier, more peaceful communities; cleaner air and healthier people; more love than hate (didn’t someone else teach that once upon a time?); collaboration rather than confrontation and fighting. The vision presented needs to consistently be about the positive ideals we are working towards. The dreamer needs to be uplifting, optimistic, and light.

Who is that speaker? Who is that visionary leader who can help us achieve our dreams?

Featured image by National Park Service — Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site, Public Domain