Quote

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
American, Leader

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Is there anything in this life that you have found important enough to die for. I think Dr. King had a good point when he voiced his thoughts written above. Is there anything in life that we have found to be worth dying for? Is there any committment that we have found to be worth putting up a fight for? I guess we will never know true passion until we can actually say and mean that we will die for something or someone.

Quote

The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
American, Leader

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Many believe that it is the amount of years on this earth that speak of success. In reality, it is not the length of life, but what one does with whatever amount of time given. Is the world around going to be a better place because you were here? Or, at the very least, can you say that did not contribute to it getting any worse? Do you have a heart to help other, when you can? Do you love those God has placed in your life? It is not how long you have, but rather, what you do with the time given to you.

THE UNION OF A PROMISE

A TRIBUTE TO
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
President Barack H. Obama
THE UNION OF A PROMISE

YOUR LIFE IS YOUR EXPERIENCE
WHAT IS REAL…IS…WHAT YOU FEEL
WHAT HAPPENED THEN...
ARE THINGS YOU HAD TO FEND

THE U.S. CONSTITUION GUARANTEES YOUR RIGHT
AN UNALIENABLE RIGHT...
TO CHOOSE, ACHIEVE, AND SEEK
ANY LAWFUL ENDEAVOR OF THE MEEK
AND SLEEP PEACEFULLY AT NIGHT…
SCHOOLS TAUGHT WHAT LIFE SHOULD BE
YOU ACTUALLY LIVED WHAAT OTHERS CAN’T SEE

LIVING WITH A FIRM CONVICTION
OF WHO YOU ARE…DREAMS NEVER FAR
CURIOUSLY LEARNING THINGS TO D
NOT A ‘SOMETHING’ OTHERS CALLED YOU
YOU STRUGGLE TO FIGHT THE CONTRADICTION
OF PEOPLE TRYING TO CONVINCE..
THAT’S YOU’RE ONLY FICTION

ALWAYS OBEYING THE LAWS OF THE LAND
SEEKING OPPORTUNITIES WITH A FAIR CHANCE
KNOWING YOU HAVE TO BE EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD
WHRE OTHERS WHO WERE ONLY FAIR, NO STOOD

STRONG ARMS OF THE LAW OF THE LAND…
WERE MEN WHO FIERCELY BEAT YOU
WITH BADGES AND A CLUB IN THEIR HAND…
THEY STEADFASTLY REFUSED TO SEE
YOU HAD CITIZEN RIGHT TO BE
THEY’RE ALSO MEMBERS OF THE KLU KLUX KLAN




THE UNION OF A PROMISE

TO BE WRONG…TO BE RIGHT
IN THE DAY. SOMETIMES AT NIGHT
BEATING A BLACK…FOUND IN HIS SIGHT
ASSISTING A BIRTH AND GIVING LIFE
IF YOU WERE THE RIGHT COLOR…
YOU COULD COUNT ON THE LAW
TO BE YOUR BROTHER…

MARCHING IN PROTESTS OF WRONGS, NOT RIGHTS…
NOT BREAKING ANY LAW OF THE LAND
YOUR REWARD WERE NIGHTSTICKS, HIGH POWERED
FIRE HOSES, AND DOG BITES…
TOLD NOT OT COME BACK AGAIN
STOP TALKING ABOUT BEING FREE…YOU WANT TO
BE JUST LIKE ME-------SINGING, MY COUNTRY TIS’ OF THEE
YOU’LL BE HANGING FROM THAT TREE…

SHOUTING OBSCENITIES AND RACIAL SLURS
WERE COMMON IN ATTEMPTS TO KEEP YOU DOWN
THE GOAL WAS TO DRIVE YOU BACK---ACROSS THE
TRACKS…TO THE SLUMS OF SHANTY TOWN
HELPING YOU LOSE YOUR WAY… AND NEVER FOUND
AUTHORITIES SAY… IN THE DARK OF NIGHT…
YOU MET FRIGHT…SLIPPED IN THE RIVER AND DROWN

THE MEMORIES OF IT ALL
STRUGGLING TO GET UP…AGAIN YOU FALL
BARELY HOLDING ON TIGHT
PULL A WEARY BODY UP…AGAIN YOU FALL
BARELY HOLDING ON TIGHT
PULL A WEARY BODY UP…WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT
YOU QUESTION WHY TRY SO HARD
BUT THE NEXT MORNING, A NEW START
FOR FOOD HAS TO BE ON THE TABLE
IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU’RE NOT ABLE
THERE WAS NO FOODSTAMP LINE
WELFARE HELP WAS A FIGMENT OF THE MINE




THE UNION OF A PROMISE

MANY YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY…WOULD SAY
NOW IS NOW…AND THAT WAS THEN…
THE ‘N’ WORD IS GONE NOW
YOUNG KEZZI IS MY HOMIE…MY FRIEND…
IT’S A DIFFERENT WORD NOW…GONE WITH THE WIND
DEROGATORY WORDS ARE WHAT ‘WESAY THEY ARE’
YOU CAN’T HEAR US BECAUSE OF YOUR SCAR

YOUNGSTERS ARE PARTIALLY RIGHT…
BUT THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND THE FIGHT…
WORDS TO DENIGRATE DIDN’T MEAN ANYTHING
BACK THEN----AFRICAN-AMERICANS KNEW WHO THEY WERE
WHEN TO YOU..PEOPLE APPLIED THAT TAG…
TO ENSLAVE YOUR CULTURE LIKE A DISH RAG…
TO TEACH IN SCHOOL THE ‘BILL OF RIGHTS’ DON’T APPLY TO YOU…
DISCRIMINATE, CLOSE GATES, SEGREGATE, AGAINST YOU
THEREBY LIMIT THE THINGS YOU COULD DO…
WHEN OTHERS HAVE POWER TO DEFINE WHO YOU ARE
ATTMEPTING TO RUN YOU OVER WITH THEIR CAR
WHEN YOU ARE DENIED FREE ACCESS AS A RACE
SOME LEADS A LIFE OF DISGRACE

SO MANY YOUNGSTERS ARE SIMPLY SUFFERING FROM
IGNORANCE…NOT KNOWING, NOT UNDERSTANDING, NOT
APPRECIATING WHAT THEIR RELATIVES ENDURED…
FOUGHT FOR, BEATEN, SUFFERED, AND DIED FOR…
SO THEY COULD ENJOY THE FREEDOM, THE OPPORTUNITIES
THAT OCCUR…..

DEFINNING IGNORANCE…IS NOT KNOWING…
A SCOREBOARD ENGULFED BY WEEDS…IS NOT SCORING
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE…IS NOT GROWING…
AS OTHERS CAREER STARTS START SOARING
YOU CAN’T CATCH UP ON 22S, FREEWAY ROARING
YOU’RE NOW TOO LATE…YOU WON’T BE GOING…




THE UNION OF A PROMISE

WAIT A MINUTE…ARE YOU TRYING TO SEE
HOW TO FIND AN ANSWER…
TO SOLVE NEIGHBORHOOD CANCER…
DETERMINED TO ACTUALLY SHOW ME
GETTING IT RIGHT CAN FINALLY BE?

I WILL COMMIT TO STUDY MY HISTORY
AND ‘HIP HOP’ IT CORRECTLY TODAY…
THE U.S. CONSTITUTION, THE BILL OF RIGHTS
MY CHILDREN WILL LEARN, MY PARENTS STORY
PROUD TO LIVE A POSITIVE, AND FRUIFUL LIFE
FOOTPRINTS MADE... THE TRULY AMERICAN WAY…

MANY HAVE SACRIFICED AND PAVED THE WAY…
THEY GAINED THEIR KNOWLEDGE IN TIME OF NEED
CREATED OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TODAY
I’LL NOW DO MY PART TO NOURISH THE SEED

COMMON COURTESY HAS LOST IT’S SIGHT
I SEE, SPEAKING TO SOMEONE, IS ALRIGHT
BY NATURE, GOOD PEOPLE LIKE TO HELP
BUT NOT IF I’M MEAN, AND WRAPPED UP IN SELF
MORE PEOPLE WILL HELP ME A FRIEND
ENCOURAGING MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS…LIKE KIN

OR THEN MY LIFE WOULD NOT END
WITH MY CHILDREN WONDERING, WHERE’D I BEEN
MY MORNING NEWS WILL HAPPILY REVEAL
I, BEING MR. PRESIDENT, OF THE UNITED STATES SEAL

ALVIN BOLTON

Quote

The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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There are those that have lived long lives, but have little to show for it. It is not the accumulation of things that is the measure of a successful life. Rather, it is the degree to which one have loved others that is the true measure. That is what one can control.

What is the quality of your life? Are you making a positive difference in lives of those around you? Are you living your life as if it is a gift from God to be cherished. Or do you dred each day, as if each day is a day to go to the dentist?

Life...A gift from God. Love others.

Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. you only need a heart full of grace. a soul generated by love.

Martin Luther King Jr.
1929-1968, American Black Leader, Nobel Prize Winner, 1964

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You want to be great? Then serve your fellow man? You want to be great? Put others before your own self sometimes. By the way; who are you trying to please? If it is your mission to please man, then you be sure to fail. Man will like you just as long as you do what they say. Once you step out on your own, and go against the grain you will no longer be liked.

Please God. Servanthood is the way .

Quote

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Do you want to defeat our enemy; hatred, and evil? Be love.
Do you want to defeat envy and jealousy? Be love.
Do you want to put expose the works of darkness? Be love.
Do you want to see families that make up a community of togetherness? Be love.
Do you want to see the impossible become possible. Be love.

Stop waiting for the next man/woman to bring about the change that you wish for. You be the pilgrim of that change. You light the fire of change. You will be surprised what a fire in you will do for others.

Quote

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Martin Luther King Jr.
1929-1968, American Black Leader, Nobel Prize Winner

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We often judge ourself in the wrong light. We usually use the good times in life to measure our self. What's wrong with that you say? Good question. In good times there is no opposition. There is no crossroads to present us with the right or wrong way. (there is but it is just in a different way). The pressure is not as pressing in the good times.

It is in times of controversy that we really get to know ourselves. It is at those times when the crossroads appear. It is at those times that we can get desperate. Suddenly, the wrong does not seem so wrong. We make cutting corners seems like the long road. Our mind plays games with us. Or should I say, we play games with our mind. It is in the times of controversy that we find ways to justify ill acts. We lower our standard.

But, conversely, it is at the times of controvery that great gains are made. It is at those times the people come together. In the face of lack, abundance is found. In the face of hate, love is seen. In the face of poverty, true wealth can be discovered. In the face of death, true life is found.

Measure yourself against your times of controversy, lack, pressure, trials, tribulations, and find out what you come up with about yourself then.