Remembering Him

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -Martin Luther King Jr.

When I was applying for money for college as a high school junior, a scholarship for a local group advertised a $250 scholarship. My family was quite poor and college tuition was going to be very difficult to pay without a lot of financial assistance. The essay for the scholarship was to be written about the person you admired most. I chose Martin Luther King, Jr. as my person, and wrote my essay. I had a couple teachers read over my essay and one quietly pulled me aside and said that for this particular organization, an essay on Martin Luther King might not be a good idea. I caught the teacher's meaning; this organization was evidently known by those in the community to be racist and would probably not be that impressed by my admiration of a civil rights movement leader. I refused to pick someone else, and turned in my application. I'll never really know why, but I did not receive the scholarship. It seemed to me like an incredibly small price to pay compared to all those who had given their lives for their belief in equality. I hope we never forget their sacrifice.