Happy Birthday, Martin. I learned today your name was originally Michael but that your father changed it early on to honor Martin Luther. Does that mean he changed his own name, too? I don't know. When I think about you, I think about the influence of Gandhi on your life. I think about Title 7, the part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that deals with discrimination in the workplace. I think about Brown v. Board of Education, and I think about Rosa Parks. These things hold for me the promise of justice. They are the gold standard.
When I look at reality, I see cases like Mothers Work, the maker of maternity clothing, settling a lawsuit brought by pregnant employees who were fired. (This is the height of obstetric irony.) I see a national policy on immigration that refuses to consider on whose backs the infrastructure of this country was built. I see glass ceilings. And I see the limitations of the legislation that held so much promise.
But still, I am inspired. I am inspired to do the best I can for disenfranchised people whose access to law is uneven. Happy Birthday, Martin. Your legacy and dream live on.
Sources:
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2007/01/08/daily32.html
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/16462004.htm
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