20” h x 16” w Acrylic on canvas
No money was made using the song “We shall overcome” by Dorothy Cotton, Freedom singers and Peter Seeger. I do not own any rights to the music or the speeches.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. “We shall overcome” speech at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. 4 days before he was assassinated March 31, 1968.
Painting Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. a couple weeks ago lead me to learn more about his wife Coretta Scott King. There is no doubt she was an incredibly strong, passionate, musically gifted woman of God on a mission for racial equality. They were married 15 years with four children at the time of her husbands assassination in 1968. It breaks my heart thinking about the chain of events and all the people alive that witnessed the aftermath from the shots that rang out that sad day. Mrs. King and their children must of been absolutely devastated. The nation suffered. It sent ripples into the world. She could’ve turned bitter and enraged but she marched on even bolder for the mission of love and equality. She has been referred to as the “First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement”. She sought for years for the recognition of her husbands birthday to be a national holiday. Finally 15 years after his death Ronald Reagan signed legislation to make that happen. Coretta Scott King marched on trying to help make our world a better place for everyone.
Today we are still faced with racial inequalities way too many years later. We all have to check our hearts and realize that there is no room for hate for any living being! We will always have our differences as human beings but we have so much more in common. We should be celebrating our differences and learning from one another how to live in harmony with each other and nature. We are all called to take care of the land, sea and air as well as all the living beings here on Earth. I do believe we can overcome any obstacles with God and love in our hearts.
I admire Mrs. King more than any words could ever express. I pray for the hearts of all human kind that we may realize that the ground is level at the cross. We are all equal.
Leave a Reply