By David Jordan Jr,
When it comes to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, his legacy is something that is not only transcending in its impact upon the world, but to an extent it is a legacy that has been carefully generated by certain aspects of the media. As years have passed since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in 1968, the public has seen King celebrated with only a few of his brilliant words, words that seem to appease rather than show the total brilliance of King and his passion for black love and black pride. Most people that were not alive during the Civil Rights movement and during the time shortly after the movement, the only real knowledge that the majority of people have, especially younger kids is that he was a “dreamer.” The famous “I Have A Dream” speech which was given on August 28, 1963 at The March On Washington and the words from this speech is what most of pop culture embraces, celebrates and associates with the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr; but just as much as King wanted black people in the United States of America to have the same civil rights 
as white people in the United States of America, King preached self love and self pride for black people in this country. The trying times, injustices and unfair treatment of people of color led to many blacks feeling ashamed of their skin color, ashamed of the hair and ashamed of their one of a kind characteristics. But King made it a point in many of his speeches to uplift black people and to remind them of their outer beauty that matched their inner beauty.
On October 26, 1967, King spoke to students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delivering a message that embodied his belief in black pride and self worth. Speaking about “The Blueprint” for life, King reiterated the importance of self belief, education and pride in being the best to an auditorium full of youth. The footage of this speech is something that has not been often showed in clips pertaining to King in the world media. Despite this fact, the world has to acknowledge the fact that King, as much as he fought for civil rights fought just as hard for HIS PEOPLE to carry themselves in a manner that showed total self pride and a self love for being black in a society that did everything it possibly could to devalue the worth of a black person. Words spoken in 1967 are still relevant today, nearly 50 years later.
Watch the speech given at Barratt Junior High School below:
