Still King?

Oh, I'm sawry mister, I didn't aim to walk on the same side of the sidewalk as you. I'll cross. No suh, I won't use this bathroom, it's for whites. I'll go on around to the back and use the outhouse they got set up fah me. Aw naw man, I'm not going to that grocery sto', they don't allow me in there. Won' even sell me a can of pork n' beans man!

I am sure that is the type of conversation and diction I'd be having this day if it were not for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Especially since I come from Alabama, I couldn't imagine my treatment, the grandson of field workers and great grandson of sharecroppers. When people think of civil rights, they think of Dr. King and how he made the life many of us minorities live today possible. Whether we truly appreciate it or not is up for a debate, but having the opportunity and privilege to considered an equal citizen should be cherished.

It has been about 45 years since Dr. King passed and his legacy still continues to thrive, whether it is in ideas or people. One person I believe has truly stepped in the shoes of King is Geoffrey Canada. Canada is a social and education reformer in New York, mostly in Harlem although he is from the Bronx. Canada is focused on eliminating the disparity in education that exists in New York while also continuing to fight the social issues such as violence, poverty, and family that still exists. He opened the Harlem Children's Zone in 1990 to try and increase the graduation rates among high school and college students in the area. They aimed to follow students in a 24 block area of Harlem and as of today their reach is closer to 97. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the After School Corporation, which is nonprofit and aims to expand educational opportunities for all students. He is also the Chairman of the Children's Defense Fund. 

Canada has inspired Obama to try and implement the idea of the HCZ into numerous other cities in need of educational reform due to it's wide success in Harlem. The two books he has written "Fist Stick Knife Gun", detailing his accounts with violence and how cities should deal with it, and "Reaching Up for Manhood", a book on changing the mindsets of youth in bad conditions, have been raved nationwide as extremely impactful, compelling, and powerful. 

Taking a break from his merit, Geoffrey Canada has had a very indirect hand in cutting down on the violence in NYC and increasing the economic growth in Harlem and Brooklyn. 2012 had the lowest amount of murders in the city in 20+ years. Harlem has become an extremely diverse neighborhood, attracting people of different race, occupation and merit. Just last year, Whole Foods opened not one, not two, but THREE stores in the neighborhood. While the average property values in both Brooklyn and Harlem have gotten much higher compared to the 1960s per se, both neighborhoods have gotten significantly more upscale and safer. Canada definitely played a hand in all of this occurring

While Canada may not be dealing with issues as large and paramount as Dr. King, I do believe I see a lot of King's qualities in him and his effort to bring change to a community that was once crumbling. One day, the nation will use his examples to correct current problems and when that happens, we will become a better nation.