The White Falcon - 14.01.1994, Blaðsíða 2

Martin Luther King Jr.
The man and his dream
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an American
clergyman and nonviolent civil rights
leader, was one of the most influential
activists of the ‘50s and ‘60s. He played a
key role in the black struggle for equality
by introducing the strategy of civil
disobedience, and helped turn the struggle
into a nationwide movement.
King was the son of a Baptist minister,
bom in Atlanta on Jan. 15, 1929. He
entered Morehouse College in Atlanta at
lyte bytes
age 15 and graduated in 1948, at 19. In
1951, he graduated first in his class at
Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsyl-
vania, and earned a Ph.D. in theology from
Boston University in 1955. King married
Coretta Scott in 1953, and in 1954, he
became a pastor for the Dexter Ave.
Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala.
It was during graduate school that King
became influenced by the teachings of
India's Mahatma Gandhi. These teachings
convinced King that the power of nonvio-
lent resistance to oppression was the right
strategy for the black movement.
In December 1955, when a black
woman, Rosa Parks, was arrested for
refusing to move to the back of a public
bus, Montgomery blacks responded with a
year-long bus boycott. King, who was the
president of the Montgomery Improvement
Association, helped lead the boycott The
boycott spurred much violence by whites
against blacks, and in 1956, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled in a related case that
segregation on public transportation was
unconstitutional.
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This victory substantiated the power of
nonviolent resistance, giving King
notoriaty in the national civil rights
movement In January 1957, he helped^
found the Southern Christian Leader
Conference (SCLC) to coordinate nu
ous civil rights groups. In 1958, while in
New York, King was the target of an un-
successful assassination attempt
In 1960, he moved to Atlanta to become
a full-time worker for the SCLC. He was
involved in the sit-ins and freedom rides of
1960 and 1961. King was often jailed for
his participation in struggle movements
throughout the South. In 1963, he wrote
his famous “Letter From Birmingham Jail,”
appealing to clergymen to support the
struggle for equal rights.
President John F. Kennedy sent a civil
rights bill to Congress due to the struggles.
On Aug. 28, 1963, more than 250,000
marchers, mostly blacks, gathered for the
March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom. King was one of the speakers,
delivering his now famous “I Have a
Dream” speech.
In October 1964, after Congress passed
the 1964 Civil Rights Act, he was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent
struggle against racial oppression.
See MLK, pagi
Every ending is a “new” beginning

By Chaplain Gerald L. Gray
Well, believe it or not the new year is here!
For some of us, not only is it a new calendar
year, but a new beginning perhaps in a differ-
ent geographical location, relationship or new
job. This new year season, you can now
begin afresh. As 1993 fades into history,
1994 ushers in new possiblities, opportuni-
ties and potentialities.
I was told many years ago by my physics
instructor that there are only two kinds of
energy, real and potential. Potential energy
only becomes real when force is applied.
Each of us has inward gifts and abilities that
we haven't even touched because of some-
thing called a “comfort zone.” Our built-in
protective zones of comfort sometimes get in
the way of growth and progress. In my life,
I have discovered that I have done the most
growing during uncomfortable experiences.
Perhaps difficulties, disappointments, unusual
circumstances and out of the normal experi-
ences are the forces God uses to assist us in
reaching our real areas of potential.
Each of us has the potential to achieve what
ever it is we need to this year. However, for
this to become a reality, we must be willing to
take risks, move out of our areas of comfort
and utilize our stored and untapped potential
energy, endurance and patience. In doing so,
we may victoriously accrue the growth and
progress in 1994 that we wanted and needed
so desperately in 1993.
My friends, yes, every ending can become
a positive new beginning if we allow God to
lead us and direct us. Since God sees and
knows our future and we do not, if we follow
his lead, perhaps we will avoid last year's
pitfalls and grab hold to a brighter today and
a more fulfilling tomorrow.
“In all your way acknowledge God and
he will make your paths straight,” Prov-
erbs 3:6.
Happy New Year to all!
TheWhite Falcon
Commander, Iceland Defense Force
Rear A dm. Michael D. Haskins
Commander, 35th Wing
Col. Branford J. McAllister
Chief of StafT, Fleet Air Keflavfk
Capt. R. Peter Fleming
Commanding Officer,
U.S. Naval Air Station Keflavfk
Capt. C. Thomas Butler
Commanding Officer,
Marine Corps Security Force Company
Maj. Scott Westovelt
Comanding Officer,
U.S. Coast Guard (LORAN-C Detail)
Li. Stephen G. Nunc
Public Affairs Officer
Ll Cm dr. Joseph L. Quimby
Deputy Public Affairs Officer
Fridthor Kr. Eydal
Leading Chief Petty Officer
JOC Dave Marr
Editor
JOl David W. Crenshaw
Journalists
J02(AW) Natalie Dias
J02 Carlos Bongioanni
J03(SW) Andreas Walter
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