Remembering the Legacy of a King

By Bernard S. Little
Command Information Officer
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

Thursday (Jan. 15) would have been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 75th birthday. It's hard for me to fathom because of his influence and impact on society, Martin Luther King Jr., has been dead nearly 35 years.

Although King's physical presence is no longer with us, his legacy is. Hardly a day goes by that, in some form or fashion, the name or image of Martin Luther King Jr., are not brought up. Of course this is more so the case during January (his birth month) and February (Black History Month).

Nearly everyday I drive on a boulevard named after Martin Luther King Jr., and in practically every major city in the United States and many abroad, there is either a street or school named after him. This speaks to the impact this great civil rights leader had on society. But was King great? Did he leave an illustrious legacy? What is actually the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? Is it the legacy of a great dreamer and orator? Is it a legacy of a man who was a "drum major for justice?" Or is it the legacy of a plagiarizer and philander, as a Web site that I recently came across strongly and adamantly asserts?