Keeping Up With Philly: Traveling back in time when Martin Luther King gave a speech at Barratt Juni

On October 26th, 1967 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. graced the city of Philadelphia and empowered the youth at Barratt Junior High School which, no longer exist was located in South Philadelphia. King's speech like all others was nothing short of amazing. I can only imagine how uplifting and inspiring and captivating it was to physically be in the room receiving Dr.King's speech first hand. The foundation of the speech was creating a "Life blueprint”, maximizing one’s own power and potential, and emphasizing the importance of self-confidence.

This speech like many others still remains relevant and just as powerful in 2016 as it was in 1967. It may come as a surprise to some that this was only 49 years ago. Though this was several decades ago much of the social issues that was highlighted still echoes in our current society. Still we as black people are as King said "evolved in the struggle of freedom and justice." Still the fight against racism, oppression, discrimination and police brutality towards Black Americans is being fought.

"Number one in your life blue print should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your own worth, and your own somebodyness. Don’t allow anybody to make you feel that you are nobody. Always feel that you count, always feel that you have worth and always feel that your life has ultimate significance. That means that you should not be ashamed of your color. You know it’s very unfortunate that in many instances our society has placed a stigma on the negroes color and you know there are some negroes who are ashamed of themselves but dont be ashamed of your color don't be ashamed of your biological features."

Many of us within the Black community undergo internal battles and struggle with our self-confidence. Many have difficulties with seeing the beauty in their blackness and lack the love for their natural kinky curly hair due to the beauty standards that were constructed. Often times Blackness is exempt from commercials, billboards, and television advertisements that revolve around "beauty". That lack of representation has a direct impact on the way we as a people view ourselves and value ourselves. We become subconsciously conditioned and programmed to believe that Black cannot be an equal to beauty. It takes long extensive process to unlearn what we were indirectly told from media to believe about ourselves.

'Secondly in your life blueprint you must have, as a basic principle, the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavor. You’re going to be deciding as the days and years unfold what you will do in life what your life work will be and once you discover what it will be, set out to do it and to do it well."

It is very important that we achieve excellence and truly excel in whatever it is we feel compelled to do in life. We must continue to transcend those barriers and limits that are imposed on us. There are so many systems working against us and it can be so hard to defeat those systems and rise above but we have to continue striving for excellence.

#kuwp #keepingupwithphilly