The third Monday in January is a national holiday in the United States, in remembrance of  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Many of us have heard or read his famous, “I Have A Dream” speech. A lesser known quote of Dr. King’s written about the Vietnam War, could be applied to a lot of issues, including how humans care (or don’t care) for animals:

“On some positions cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’
 Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ 
Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ 
But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’
 And there comes a point when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right.”
      -Martin Luther King Jr.

Let us all take a few moments to remember Martin Luther King, Jr. and his eloquent, impassioned speeches that moved a nation to end segregation and encouraged each of us to follow our conscience with nonviolence and compassion. People like Dr. King, his hero Mahatma Gandhi, and so many others, have paved the way for those who care for those in need. Let’s all keep paying it forward.

Cokie the Cat
Editor-in-Chief

Martin Luther King Jr. photograph by Phil Stanziola, NYWT&S staff photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Dr. King’s quote from “A Proper Sense of Priorities,” February 6, 1968, Washington, DC, via AACW.org.

Tagged as: A Proper Sense of Priorities, AACW, I Have A Dream, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Phil Stanziola