LAST week April 4 marked 50 years since Martin Luther King was assassinated. The occasion was marked in the US with marches, speeches and quiet reflection.
The commemorations, according to media reports, stretched from his hometown of Atlanta to Memphis, where he died, and points beyond, including the nation’s capital.
Hundreds of people bundled in hats and coats gathered early in Memphis for a march led by the same Sanitation Workers’ Union whose low pay King had come to protest when he was shot.

The very mention of the name Martin Luther in any part of the world evokes reverence and respect for a man who lived for a mere 39 years; but during that time, his impact on America and the world at large was unmatched by any public figure of his generation. In contemporary society, where icons of past generations are hardly known by the present one, Dr King is the exception. Dr King was the best-known figure in the final stage of the American civil rights movement—one of the great 20th century socio-political movements. He rose to prominence in 1955-56, when another civil rights icon, Rosa Parks, ignited a year-long bus boycott by African-Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, by refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. This was during the period of segregation in the American South, when blacks and whites were prohibited by law from sharing the same public accommodation.

Dr King, then a young 26-year-old minister, at the time was chosen by the people to lead a boycott of the buses, which eventually lasted for a year and ended with the desegregation of public transportation. That outcome in Montgomery had a domino effect, as public transportation in several other southern cities was desegregated. Dr King would for the next 12 years lead a national movement that saw the legal end to segregation and the formal integration of African-Americans into American society as equal citizens.

As the face of the movement, Dr King was revered by his followers and hated by his detractors. He and his followers endured ridicule, physical violence from both private individuals and groups and from the state. Yet he persevered with the praxis of non-violence and civil disobedience in the face of such intense violence that claimed the lives of several civil rights workers. After many unsuccessful attempts on his life, Dr King was eventually assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.

He has left a tremendous legacy which has remained an example to other fighters for social justice. As an orator, he was second to none; his speeches are cited widely, both for their content and delivery. Dr King was not just a leader and an activist, he was a deep thinker whose thoughts are today the subject of study in universities across the world.

As we remember this giant of a man, we should reflect on the value of selfless public service. Dr King gave his entire adult life to the service of mankind. He spent little time with his young family. When he was brutally murdered, he left little earthly belongings; in short, he died a poor man. But his was a life rich with commitment to lift his fellow human beings to the mountain top. It is a lesson which contemporary political people should heed. So many political activists and politicians are today more concerned with personal enrichment rather than selfless service.

Another value of Dr King that is worth emulating is his commitment to principle over expediency. He believed in non-violence as tactic, strategy and overriding principle. Even in the face of extreme violence and opposition from within his own ranks, he remained steadfast. For him, physical force would ultimately flounder in the face of soul force. He believed deeply that violence was not the answer to racism and racist violence. Perhaps, in the end he was vindicated.

Many have asked what would have been the destiny of Black America had Dr King not been cut down so early in his life. We would never know the answer to that question, but one thing is certain: his example, ideas and activism have shaped new generations across the globe. That America honours him with a holiday and remembers him in many other ways is a living testimony of the wide reach of his praxis. Today he is not just a hero to Black people, but to all other races. He is not just a darling of political moderates, but even hard-nosed radicals embrace him as a fellow traveller.

We in Guyana can draw strength from Dr King’s memory. As we grapple with our own challenges, the example of the drum-major of peace can be a source of assurance that all is not lost.