Happy Martin Luther King Day! January 18, 2010

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Martin Luther King spent his life inspiring us to think beyond ourselves and look past differences in order to move toward social justice. He preached kindness toward all, and advocated the need for all of us to work together toward a common goal. Dr. King even motivated those individuals who were nearing the brink of disbelief to continue on in the face of opposition, because he visualized the great salvation that our country has now worked so hard to reach. There's quite a bit we can learn from him, especially when it comes to animal rights.

All of us want to do everything we can to fight for animal liberation, but this process doesn't require the use of violence and slander as means to help animals. Any time we get into a heated argument with someone about why people shouldn't eat animals, we lose another potential vegan. Here are some of my favorite quotes from Dr. King to help motivate your efforts to stop all forms of violence—including cruelty to animals.

"... we have been forced to a point where we are going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn't force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them ... no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today."

"We don't have to argue with anybody. We don't have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don't need any bricks and bottles."

"Now that's a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around. That's a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars."

"But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice."

So on this day of service or the next time you are doing animal rights outreach in your community, remember to keep your cool, because like Martin Luther King Jr. says, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

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