30 Quotes By Martin Luther King Jr. That Show How Exceptional He Was

A very recent documentary, MLK/FBI, released by director Sam Pollard and based on newly declassified files shows how the US government surveilled and harassed King: from wiretaps to suggestions that he should kill himself.

Meanwhile, King’s oldest son, Martin Luther King III, told CNN that his father would be disappointed with the US if he were still alive. “My father always believed in the people of our nation. Certainly, he would be greatly disappointed in how we have chosen to conduct ourselves at this particular moment,” he said. “He understood we are a United States of America, not a divided state of America, and he would be telling us we must turn to each other, not turn on each other.”

Bored Panda spoke about the fight to end racism in the United States with positivity blogger and writer Shola Richards. According to Richards, the deaths of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Breonna Taylor on March 13, and others “irrevocably jolted awake” many people to the reality of what life in the US is like for black people. However, he pointed out that real change is going to be a long journey that will not happen overnight or even in a single year.

“My hope is that as many people as possible will continue to educate themselves on systemic racism by reading informative books, like ‘How to be an Anti-Racist’ by Ibram Kendi or ‘White Fragility’ by Robin DiAngelo. I hope that as many people as possible will continue to stand up to racism and show up as strong allies, despite some of their friends and family rolling their eyes at them for doing so,” Richards explained his hopes that the movement against systemic racism doesn’t fizzle out but continues through people educating themselves.

In Richards’ opinion, “people of all races” protesting together in large numbers is the most effective way to “demand meaningful change” in the country.

“I hope that people will continue to have important discussions about race, even though those discussions can be uncomfortable and difficult. Most of all, I hope that people won’t get tired, become discouraged, and quit on this long journey to reshape America. This is how we must fight racism, and as with anything meaningful, it’s going to require a lot of work.” Remember, change doesn’t happen overnight. But it’s worth the effort for a world with more humanity.