HERO

August 28th 1963, I’m walking home from work and see hundreds of people roaming the streets like a pack a’ locusts. They were protestors, and this had been happening fairly often recently around America. It was interesting, so I followed from the sides, watching them march right on up to the Lincoln memorial, and then stopped. Just one guy stepped up, and started talking. I thought nothing of it at first, blurring the words in my head. However, the moment I started thinking about what that one guy was saying, I started listening more intently. He was talking about things I’d never thought of before! Racism, unequal pay, suffrage; all current problems that I’ve heard mentioned once or twice, but never really heard about them in depth! Looking around at the crowd, I could see that there were plenty of others like me; people curious about the crowd and hearing about these problems, having their own revelations as the crowd grows. I could see on their faces and feel on mine that this speech is absolutely life changing.

After that speech, when everyone cleared out cheering, I decided to do some more research on the guy who gave it. I heard a few names tossed around the crowd, but one kept ringing out among all the voices and supporters: Martin Luther King. At first, I was confused. I had heard about a Martin Luther King in the past that led a protest. But that was against unjust rules of the church, not racism! However, I quickly realized through light research that this was a different person. The problems he mentioned are current, not yet solved. Racism in general, inequalities in voting and wages, even those laws that were passed almost a century ago, the “Jim Crow Laws!” My curiosity almost consumed me; what drove him to do this? I scoured anything convenient to find: newspapers, books, interviews, and the like. I learned that he led a real normal life. He came from a long line of clergymen, his mother was a musician, and had plenty of siblings. However, they suffered from the very problems he seeks to fix. I don’t blame him at all for trying to end these problems. In fact, I welcome it. Digging a little deeper, I can see some of the horrible things committed because of these problems. People have died and suffered simply because of their physical differences! Therefore, I came to the revelation that any normal person can stand for whatever is necessary. They just need the inspiration and motivation to.