Martin Luther King Still Leading: From Civil to Human Rights

As we observe Martin Luther King Day, one reflection is on the enormous influence that Dr. King has had over decades of activists.  The Black Lives Matter movement has extended, as well as incorporated, techniques employed by Dr. King. 

For those whose youth was spent in political protests, followed by a comparatively passive period, the Black Lives Matter movement is heartening.  Not only has effective advocacy been missing from the landscape in any widespread sense since the 1980’s, at times Dr. King’s techniques were considered outdated.  The Black Lives Matter movement has proved those criticisms faulty.  Black Lives Matter sparked national and international conversation.  Protests with masked students holding signs reading “I can’t breathe” and hundreds of young protesters marching with hands in the air were dramatic and effective.  Microagressions and  implicit bias are now discussed in a variety of settings and populations.  There is a test for implicit bias on Harvard’s website.  Dr. King’s leadership resulted in extraordinary civil rights accomplishments that have not been fully realized.  Black Lives Matter has transformed the civil rights movement to a  human rights movement in its continued search for dignity in both strategy and result.