martin luther king, jr.’s last speech is entitled i’ve been to the mountaintop.” for those seek the challenges of high altitude mountain climbing, many of them desire to climb ount everest. in order to do so, they most likely need the assistance of sherpas.
sherpas, in the country of nepal, are legendary. their vocation of high altitude mountain climbing is a source of national and ethnic pride. they are viewed as having great courage and almost superhuman ability to perform their job. they do so in a vocation in which there is a a tremendous risk of fatality. while westerner may exalt how they climbed mount everest and show their photo ops, we are all aware that expert and experienced sherpas most likely made the achievement happen.
on this day, there will be many who will discuss greatness of mlk, jr., this article is meant to take a moment to reflect on one of the great mountain climbers of the civil rights movements. long before mlk, jr., there was a. philip randolph.
a philip randolph was a labor leader who was not afraid to take on presidential administrations to exact civil rights. in doing so, he succeeded multiple times. he spent decades envisioning and threatening a march on washington.
man years later, when the march on washington can to a realization,
something, however, happened when speeches were being made. fortunately or unfortunately, a young, handsome, dynamic mlk jr gave an amazing speech which captivated the nation. as a result, in the mindset of the public, he was propelled up in the hierarchy of civil rights activists.
today, as the us celebrates the man who spoke about being on a mountaintop, it should also reflect upon the man who, for decades, climbed mountains to obtain civil rights and made happen the event which helped make mlk jr a national figure.
we should never forget that humanity always benefits from the struggles of those from the past. these individuals from the past provided knowledge, wisdom, vision, courage and plans for the future.
finally, there is something about mountains that are of import. mountains connote religiosity. it was to the mountain of god at which moses first met god at the burning bush. it was at that meeting that he was tasked of freeing the oppressed from bondage. later one, it was that mountain upon which moses climbed and received the source of justice, morals and values for the world, the ten commandments.
be well!!
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