Welcome to the Martin Luther King Jr. issue of The Exchange. Over the next few weeks, we will explore the significance of the holiday with a series of exceptional articles highlighting the man, his legacy, and the events that perpetuate his spirit for today's youth.

Benazir Bhutto, 1995I am crushed that the 40^th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination has been marked by the very unfortunate assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan. Like King, Bhutto knew her life was in danger and yet she continued her work, unafraid. The consequence of this courage was just as devastating as in King's case, proving once again that history does indeed repeat itself.  However, we must all keep in mind that this repetition is not as bleak a prospect as it first may seem. We have it within our power to remove the word “doomed” from the old adage about history repeating itself. In fact, positive deeds may some day permeate our lives, making us instead “blessed” that the future will be modeled on the past. It really is in our power, for we do control the future.

Take, for a moment, our present perspective of future technology. Future products often fit our imagined assumption of what they will be. The touch screens of iPhones, for example, were created to mimic those portrayed in the futuristic film, “Minority Report”. This is actual working technology that was created to fit a dreamed-up notion of what the future would look like. If we can do it with technology, we can do it with sociology. By working toward good now, the results will exponentially increase as people look back and live by example. As Martin Luther King Jr. said himself, "We are not makers of history. We are made by history."

Good deeds can imbed themselves in our history and their inevitable repetition can then combat violence, poverty, hunger, racism, and any other affliction of humanity. Dr. King himself always emphasized that this is no easy task. Yet, bit by bit, good deeds may replace bad ones until we reach the promised land that he spoke of in his last speech on this earth.

Please feel free to participate in any of the events we will highlight this month or find your own Martin Luther King Jr. Day events and let us know about them. We are dedicated to spreading the word about positive events, valuable perspectives, and outstanding youth so that history will be filled with the good deeds that can repeat into our future. As always, expect a new article each and every Tuesday and we hope you enjoy the series.

Gary Ferrar
Editor-in-Chief
The Exchange