Op-Ed: Words my uncle, Martin Luther King Jr., would share in our troubled times

By Dr. Alveda King in Fox News

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."

So many people are angry, hurt and confused, especially with the devastation of the COVID pandemic casting a dark shadow. There have been far too many losses.

I believe if MLK were here today, he would encourage us to hold onto hope, fear not, have faith in God, and choose human kindness and love over hate.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase," he said. "Everything that is done in the world is done by hope. Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."

MLK also once said, "We must learn to live together as brothers [and sisters] or perish together as fools."

This theme of togetherness suits MLK’s dream, hope and prayers for human dignity and the sanctity of life.

When I was a little girl raised in a family of Baptist preachers, my father Rev. A.D. Williams King, my grandfather Daddy King, and my uncle would read the Bible and preach and teach the lessons that MLK would one day grow famous for delivering. His sermons on unity, faith, hope and live still resonate today.

If he were here today, MLK would likely encourage us to answer the threat of racism with the truth that there are no separate human races; there is only one critical human race, regardless of skin color or social conditions.

Read the full piece by Dr. Alveda King in Fox News here.

Dr. Alveda King serves as Chair, Center for the American Dream for the America FIrst Policy Institute (AFPI).