By KD Hall
Special to The Medium
On April 4,1968 at 6:05PM, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead while standing on his balcony outside of his hotel in Memphis. This tragic event struck a moment of great sadness for all the dreamers of the world. Although I wasn’t born until 1982, his impact hit me like a bolt of lightning. By the time I turned 9, I watched corruption and drugs take a stronghold on my community in Detroit and across urban communities in America. Since I very intimately knew Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, the unjust systems in place were vividly illuminated.
Even at a young age, I’ve always felt an anointing has been placed on my life to be the change we want to see in the world. While Dr. King did much of the hard work laying down foundational life changing experiences, his legacy made my dream of empowering women and girls possible. Through the spirit that lives in my bloodline, community work resides in my DNA, leading me to start a non-for-profit in college called Sisters of Success. I was set up to victoriously accomplish this mission; however, no matter how hard I worked, I was still falling behind on living expenses. I was proud to be a first-generation college student– and wasn’t going to let anything get in my way of my goal and future aspirations.
Not fully understanding money management led me to making one of the worst decisions of my life, agreeing to a quick money-making scheme instead of listening to my intuition, which was screaming at me not to do it. I knew I was in trouble when the FBI came knocking on my door with questions. As a college businesswoman and future philanthropist, I found myself charged with a felony escaping up to 35 years in prison and what felt like a bullet to my heart and a death to my dreams as all of my aspirations began to perish. Although frightened at the grievous mistake I had made, I owned up to it. I remember standing in the courtroom and hearing, “She will never accomplish anything, she is just a statistic. She’s a terrible person.” I had a strong sense of tenacity and perseverance but hearing those words as a young impressionable woman stung my soul.
When the Judge heard my story, he did something I didn’t expect by giving me a second chance. The Judge was firm and fair much like Martin Luther King Jr. The transformation that I experienced after that investment of trust had a profound ripple effect not just in my own life, but on the lives of others I’ve had the honor to work with on this journey of leadership.
Knowing I had to overcome my adversity, I completed my bachelor’s degree in journalism and earned two master’s degrees. Watching Dr. King lead the way through intense hardship was remarkable and became a blueprint to follow, inspiring me to leave my footprint on earth. More importantly, this blueprint is a tool to guide others — especially young ladies — on how to lead and leave their footprint. I refer to this as our “dash”, which represents our whole life and ways we can each contribute to society.
What you do with your dash between birth and death is essential to the evolution of mankind. In just 39 years, Dr. King presented an unforgettable dash to humanity, which propels me to leave an indelible dash. By consciously working daily on being a present leader, sister, mother, wife, friend, and daughter while keeping my price to the admission of living on earth, I hope to help uplift, empower, and inspire the next generation of women — all while saluting the great Dr. King for paving the way.
When we slow down enough and examine Dr. King’s dreams, the action plans that brought people together for the good of mankind become evident. We are part of a collective consciousness of leading and making change happen. Through my experience, I’ve come to understand that no matter your upbringing, you can use Dr. King’s legacy to inspire change in the next generation of leaders. Let’s make 2023 a year of self-discovery by rediscovering your own dreams and legacy. There’s no better time than the present to make your dash known to the world.
