Bernice A. King: King's Legacy of Peace for Our World
As I reflect on the legacy of my father, the greatest aspect is his legacy of peace. He reminded us that "the choice today is no longer between violence and nonviolence; it is between nonviolence or nonexistence."
Therefore, we are celebrating the 2014 King Holiday Observance with the theme, Remember! Celebrate! Act! King's Legacy of Peace for Our World. This theme also pays homage to the fact that, this year, we will commemorate the 50th anniversary of both my father receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as the enactment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
With the theme of peace in mind, we launched our five-year "Choose Nonviolence" campaign. As part of the campaign, our goal is to expose, encourage, educate, engage and empower one million current, emerging and next-generation leaders to embrace Dr. King's leadership philosophy. This will be done through social media, dialogues, summits, marketing campaigns and a global leadership initiative.
On the national holiday today, The King Center is calling for a moratorium on violence. Specifically, we are asking that there be no shots fired -- no shooting off at the mouth with our tongue, no shooting off physically with our fists and no shooting off of any type of gun! Just for one day -- on the King Holiday -- in recognition of my father, and as TIME magazine has said, one of our nation's Founding Fathers, let us honor the memory of one of the world's most highly regarded nonviolent proponents of peace on his holiday, with no shots fired. Instead, we ask that people engage in something positive and uplifting in service to humanity.
Also, as a part of the commemoration of my father's birthday, we are asking everyone who is convening or hosting a commemorative event or program, or an individual who wants to show allegiance, to ring a bell or bells as a symbolic gesture of your commitment to choosing nonviolence as a lifestyle. So, take a moment at some point today, Monday Jan. 20, to ring a bell -- and please share it with us through one of our social media channels (Facebook, Twitter or Instagram). To learn more about The King Center's "Choose Nonviolence" campaign, visit http://www.choosenonviolence.org.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bernice-a-king/kings-legacy-of-peace-for-our-world_b_4629523.html?1390226998
Martin Luther King, Jr. reads with his family, including daughter Bernice.
