The Work of Each Individual Helps
Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a
greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these
days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an
opportunity to make America a better nation.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
April 3, 1968
Memphis, Tennessee
"I See
the Promised Land" speech
Martin
Luther King, Jr. - Real big name, right?
Mahatma
Gandhi, Henry
David Thoreau , Malcolm
X - all big names!
Within the movmvents of the sixties, Mario Savio, Phil Ochs, Sharon Jeffreys,
Tom Hayden, Joan Baez,
Stokley Carmichael, Bob
Dylan were all nationally recongized as leaders towards change.
I hear you murmuring now. I've murmured it myself. "But I could
never be like that." "I don't have that much time." "What about all of
those people who DON'T get recognized?"
You don't NEED to be like that. You don't need to give that much
time. You don't need to be nationally recognized in order to help
improve your world. The people who lick envelopes once a month, the
people who attend a demonstration, the people who send a letter to the
president, the people who sign a petition - these are the people crucial
to a successful movement.
It may not feel like your contributions do anything, but they
certainly do. Say 10 people organize a demonstration. What is a 10
person demontration? It looks like a group of people waiting to cross
the street. Add 50 people, 500 people, 5,000 people. Now that's
demonstration. Of course, 500 people can't organize an event, but 500
people make it successful.
As a member of your community, you choose which demonstrations you
attend. Your attendence at events shows that you care and that you
believe in the cause. It is like an election in which your vote is
counted by your involvement. The events which get the most votes are the
ones which get the most attention.
If that's not enough for you, DON'T GIVE UP!!! Become more involved
until you do feel like you're doing enough to make a change.
Related Pages
Once you do something, others will join you
Helping the world is helping yourself
Get as invloved as you can
So you're ready to get involved
Please mail any comment or suggestions to kerig@sas.upenn.edu
