(light music)
- When I think about Martin Luther King,
I think about him as a great teacher.
- I really appreciated
the soaring oratory,
I really appreciated the call to freedom
and I really appreciated this pressing
for collective justice.
- He has taught us so
much about race, poverty,
militarism, inequality and
there is so much to learn.
- When you hear the tape recordings
and the video recordings
that we have nowadays,
it's really powerful and
it's really soul-shaking.
- I began to understand him as a man
and as a fallible man
and I understand my own fallibility
but the desire to kind of,
continue to press towards justice.
- What helped me
understand Dr. King better
was understanding that he was a piece
in a much larger movement
that still continues today.
- Now we also know he didn't operate alone
and that's encouraging
to somebody like me.
Not all of us are charismatic
leaders and heroes like he is.
- And in his humanity,
I'm able to see myself
because I no longer have to be perfect
to enact social change.
- I know my parents, growing up,
they always taught me
the importance of voting
and exercising the let our voice be heard
cause people who look
like us haven't always
had the ability to do that.
So recognizing people like Dr, King
who helped fight for those rights
and to make sure we are seen as equal.
- However today, the legacy
and the challenge remains
to continue our struggle
for racial justice
particularly in our culture
and in our lives with each other.
- I'm inspired by the work of Dr. King,
by recognizing that we are not there yet,
we have not reached a sense
of equality in this country,
whether it be by gender,
sexual orientation,
race, ethnicity, religion,
people have been, still to this day,
oppressed and marginalized.
- And even though the
problem may seem like
the biggest thing in the world,
that the small changes and the small chips
at this big boulder that's in front of us
is still making headway.
- And Martin Luther King
comes to me as a dreamer
who is a testament of hope,
an exemplar of hope.
- The part of Marting Luther King's legacy
that means most to me is his
image of the beloved community.
This community, built on
justice and peace and love,
I think this can speak to us.
At Santa Clara's, we try
to build what I've called
this culture of generous
encounter with each other.
- That MLK Day is not just a
day off, but a day of service
and that we're giving
back to the community
and that we are reaching out
and building those bridges
across different communities.
- Martin Luther King
has rally inspired me,
along with the entire cohort of students
that he led, you know, through SNCC
and that Ella Baker also led through the
Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee.
I think that really
inspires me to continue
to get involved and to
learn more about myself
and my community.
- Dr. Martin Luther King has taught me
to keep hanging on to hope and faith
even when times are tough.
- If I had one word to describe
Martin Luther King Junior,
I would say...
- Hope.
- Awake.
- Change agent.
- Warrior.
- Empowering.
- It would be faith.
- It would be revolutionary.
- If I have to pick one word,
it's not one word, it's three,
a strong, demanding love.
- Courage.
I would describe him as
a man of profound courage
anchored in God.
- I would choose community
because he worked in coalition
with many different people
yet the base of it was
always love and justice.
(light music)
