January 15, 2022 Martin Luther King he would have turned 93, but a 30-06 bullet ended his young life on a spring day in April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Despite having died at the age of 39, Martin Luther King has over the years become a true icon of anti-racism and the non-violent struggle for the rights of African Americans in United States of America.
The non-violent actions promoted, marked by peaceful demonstrations in all USA, brought him on October 14, 1964 to be awarded the prize Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1983, after 15 years of continuous requests, the House and Senate of the United States of America voted in favor and President Ronald Reagan signed the establishment of what we now know as the Martin Luther King Day, the US national holiday, to be celebrated strictly on the third Monday of January.
And while here 17 January is remembered as World Pizza Day, on the other side of the Atlantic, there are many who remember M. Luther King with very interesting initiatives.
“I have a dream”, Martin Luther King’s dream in the name of change for the little ones with the doll that traces the story
Interesting is the action taken by Barbie, the best-selling doll in the world.
The manufacturer Mattel Inc. in reality it does not limit itself to paying homage and honoring the figure of Martin Luther King, as many other companies have done, in fact it has decided to go further and present the latest doll made, which needless to say is very much linked to this M. Luther King Day.
The doll in question is a Barbie dedicated to the black journalist and activist Ida B. Wells, a true pioneer of US feminism and a leader who fought against the lynching of African Americans in the US.
And if you were used to seeing Barbie dolls with blond hair and fashionable accessories such as bags and hairbrushes on the shelves, well from today you can find her with a newspaper in her hand and a more olive complexion.
The newspaper, needless to say, is the Memphis Free Speech, the newspaper founded by Ida B. Wells, who already at the time carried within itself a name that is perfectly reflected in the present day.
Not just Barbie
L’NBA for example, it has decided to pay homage to the figure of MLK by scheduling 6 matches of the most popular basketball championship in the world, which will be broadcast live at more accessible times for the European and Middle Eastern audience. All in the name of dialogue and equality, in what has now become an annual event under the name of NBA 360.
Apple instead it decided to dedicate its www.apple.com home page entirely to civil rights leader Martin Luther King, reporting a black and white photo of him on a completely black background.
The photo is accompanied by an inscription that recalls a passage from the speech that MLK gave in front of the young students of the Barratt Junior High School in 1967 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
La citazione è la seguente: «I believe that we can transform dark yesterdays of injustice into bright tomorrows of justice and humanity.»
