MLK, Jr. and call for a new definition of unity

The civil rights movement hadn't made the history books when I was in school. So I had to learn about Martin Luther King, Jr. from other sources--including this fairly new one from Stanford University. It's a great resources for all things MLK, Jr.

My oldest decided to be MLK, Jr. for a biography project in third grade. Here are a couple of things I learned from some of his resources:

• MLK, Jr. was a third-generation college graduate. He graduated from prestigious Morehead College in Atlanta.
• He was pastor of an affluent church in Birmingham, AL, when he got dragged into being the leader of the civil rights movement.
• He really didn't set out to be a civil rights leader but experienced a spiritual enlightenment while in jail after a protest.

When he talked about unity, he most likely was referring to the educated helping the uneducated and the affluent helping the impoverished.

I think that in the years after his passing and even until now, there has been confusion among some black leaders about how such unity should be manifested. It should mean that the haves have a duty to help the have-nots not that the have-nots (those lacking in the spiritual and education sense) should receive endorsement for all that they do, right or wrong, deserving or undeserving.