One of the greatest values in a great leader is her or his dedication to serve others. Forty years following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., our country is obsessed with the race for our next executive leader who will serve as President.
Dr. King preached once that the greatest leader was the one who was a servant. But what is truly great was that each and every one of us can be a servant, bringing about greatness in our own way.
Building a community that fosters opportunity for all can come when we all realize our potential to become a great leader. We might not have the strobed flashes of a photographers camera bearing down on us; nor might we have the motorcades and state dinners. But we do have each other. And when we serve one another, we see first-hand how a community that focuses on others, rather than the individual, can make the dreams that King dreamed come true.
Recently, The Tavis Smiley Show on PRI focused on the current state of poverty in the United States, part of which included Alan Jenkins, Executive Director for The Opportunity Agenda. The program, "Below the Line," comes forty years after Dr. King's Poor Peoples Campaign, one of his greatest dreams of civil disobedience that was not realized until shortly after his death. Smiley's series offers a in-depth look into the issues faced by poor Americans, particularly people of color.
Listening to Smiley's series, in conjunction with the many King speeches that are available for free online, is a good source for motivation on how we can all better serve our community. It's going to take more than an executive decision from the White House to end poverty in this country. So, in addition to asking our next President how we can solve these problems, we should also ask ourselves how "we" can solve these problems. Thus, on this forty-year anniversary of Dr. King's death, what can you do--even on the smallest level--to bring about opportunity for all?
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