Friday, January 12th

As we head into the weekend that culminates with honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., please read this article as we will engage in a discussion protocol at Community Crew on resilience.

In addition Beth Payne writes;

This week we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who brought hope and healing to America. Despite the challenges and risks he faced, Dr. King was highly resilient which allowed him to be flexible and adapt quickly, to collaborate well with others, make quick and effective decisions in a crisis, and persist despite adversity. Thanks to his resilience, Dr. King was able to accomplish goals that seemed impossible and out of reach. What made him such a resilient person and a leader who inspired resilience within the civil rights community?

Meaning and Purpose: Last year I visited Montgomery, Alabama, and was privileged to tour the church where Dr. King served as a pastor. I learned how much Dr. King looked to his religion for meaning and purpose. While having a religious belief is not required to be highly resilient, studies consistently show that various forms of spirituality, including religion, can enhance resilience. For many people, including Dr. King, religion provides the meaning and purpose that is the foundation of our resilience. Dr. King was also was passionate about his mission of achieving equality for all members of our society, a meaningful goal that kept him inspired during some of his darkest times.

Social Support: Dr. King reached out to his wife Coretta, the rest of his immediate family, and members of their church to support and encourage him during all the difficult years of his struggle. When I toured the house he lived in in Montgomery, they described the importance he placed on his family and how they would host social gatherings to draw support from friends in the community. Dr. King surrounded himself with people he could lean on and who helped him remain strong.

Taking Care of Himself: Dr. King's days were long and arduous and they took a toll him physically and mentally. What struck me when visiting his home in Montgomery was how he created a space for contemplation and recovery. He would spend hours in his office praying, reading, and contemplating. This allowed him to recover from stress and hardship. I don't know whether Dr. King also focused on sleep, good nutrition and exercise, but he did carve out time in an incredibly busy schedule to rest and recover.

Altruism: Dr. King strongly believed in helping others. When sanitation workers went on strike in Memphis, he gave his support because he wanted to help others in need. Staff at the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis told me that Dr. King was tempted not to go to the church on April 3 where he gave his remarkable Mountaintop speech because it was pouring rain and he was tired. He went anyway because he wanted to give what he could to the striking workers. In this remarkable speech he explained that the question he posed to himself was not, "If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?" The question was, "If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?"