wfn.org | In his footsteps: Younger generation looks to King as model

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Jan. 23, 2004  News media contact: Kathy Gilbert7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn. 7  E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org7ALL-AA-YE{022}

NOTE: For related coverage, see UMNS feature "Walking With King." Historical
photographs, audio clips and flash presentations are available on
http://umns.umc.org.

"I have a 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." 
-- The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Aug. 28, 1963 

A Special Report
By United Methodist News Service*

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has been gone for 36 years, but his words and
actions still inspire today's young people. 

Leon Franklin, a seminary student at Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta,
and Stephanie Clark, a 16-year-old high school student in Nashville, Tenn.,
agree King has had a big impact on their lives. 

"I'd say every last one of us, whether we know it or not, we're walking in
his footsteps," Franklin says.

"He's (King) influenced me to think of the way I would want to change the
world and the way people think of each other," Clark says.

Franklin describes himself as a "25-year-old African-American male. A
Christian. A brother. A son. A person who is in constant and evolving search
for truth." 

Clark, a junior attending Nashville's Martin Luther King Magnet School, has
studied and written papers on King since she was in fifth grade.

When Franklin was in elementary school, King's birthday was not yet a
national holiday. Clark on the other hand, has always grown up celebrating
his birthday.

King's "I have a dream" speech, delivered in 1963, is the first thing
Franklin remembers hearing about the civil rights leader while in elementary
school.

"I remember the ethos of him and his voice, his speech, the way he carried
himself.

"When you're raised in the black church, especially, you identify with King
as a preacher first and foremost," Franklin says. But he also thinks of the
man as a scholar and a profound thinker.

"When we look at his writings and those who he researched to come to the
conclusions that he did, that's tremendously inspirational for me. Just
because you're a person of faith doesn't mean you're not a thinker."

Clark believes King cared about the principle of every person being created
equal, "that we should all live together in harmony with each other." 

Franklin is concerned that people put King on a pedestal that he never would
have wanted.

"King was constantly reconstructing, redefining, revisioning, redreaming,"
Franklin adds. 

If given the chance to sit down with King today, Franklin would ask where the
civil rights leader would see the country in 20 years. Franklin would also
talk to him about music, films and books.

"I'd like to hear from him about the songs that really inspired him because
they can do more for the spirit and the soul than even words," he says.

Clark would like to thank King for his contributions.

"I would probably congratulate him on the wonderful job he did in shaping our
country. If it wasn't for his dream and the legacy he left, I wouldn't have
the friends I have and the different possibilities that I have in life to
work with people from countries throughout the world." Clark explains that
her friends at school are a diverse group.

King had friends from different cultures and faith backgrounds, Franklin
points out.

"In my experience in the United Methodist Church, I've had a wealth of
experience interacting and encountering people from various cultures, various
traditions and have learned to be in community with them.

"I would say King's idea of the beloved community, a multicultural community,
a diverse community, is possible."
# # #
* This report was written by UMNS staff writers Kathy Gilbert and Linda
Green. "In His Footsteps" is a special report featuring contributions from
the entire UMNS staff: Linda Bloom, Gilbert, Green, Laura Latham, Tim Tanton,
Ginny Underwood and Fran Coode Walsh. 
  

 
 

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org