McLean County Times

Republican State House Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) recalled in a Facebook post earlier this week orator, Nobel Peace Prize winner and civil rights advocate Martin Luther King Jr.

Caulkin's Facebook post began with a quote from King's memoir of the Montgomery, Ala. bus boycott of 1958, "Stride Toward Freedom."

Illinois state House Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) | facebook.com/dancaulkinsforillinois/

"Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated," King said in his memoir.

Caulkins continued in his Monday, Jan. 17, Facebook post with his own thoughts about King.

"Today we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr., a great American hero," Caulkins wrote. "May we all continue to learn from his words and example."

Caulkins represents Illinois State House District 101, which until recently included all or parts of Champaign, DeWitt, Macon, McLean and Piatt counties.

In November, Caulkins announced at the McLean County GOP headquarters in Bloomington that he will run for the newly drawn 88th Legislative District's seat. The new 88th District includes parts of southeastern McLean County and portions of Dewitt and Macon counties.

Caulkins' Facebook post was one of many observances and recognitions in Illinois in honor of Martin Luther King this week. These included the 46th annual Marting Luther King Jr. Virtual Awards Program on Saturday, Jan. 15, and the Illinois Wesleyan University's National Holiday Gospel Festival on Monday, Jan. 17. The latter featured a best-of video premiere and other events throughout the weekend.

The still on-going pandemic complicated some Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances, including the Illinois State Martin Luther King Jr. Dinner, which was rescheduled for Feb. 25. Jemele Hill, Emmy Award-winning journalist, co-founder of Lodge Freeway Media and contributing writer for The Atlantic, is expected to give the keynote address.

Born in Atlanta in 1929, King was the son of a Baptist preacher and he received a doctorate degree in theology before 1955, when he organized the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott. King's policy of nonviolent resistance was influenced by Mohandas Gandhi, who used the same strategy a generation before in an ultimately successful campaign to win India's independence from British rule.

King many times used his skills as a talented orator, including one of his most famous speeches, now best know as his "I have a dream" speech, he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August of 1963.  In that speech, King famously announced, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

In 1964, when King was 35, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the Civil Rights Movement. He remains the youngest man to have ever received the award and was the youngest person until girls rights and education advocate Malala Yousafzai received the Nobel peace laurel at 17.

King donated his Nobel prize money, more than $50,000, to further civil rights advancement.

In April of 1968, King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers when he was assassinated while standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel. He was 39.