Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words still hit home in Tallahassee

“Going to jail for a righteous cause is a badge of honor and a symbol of dignity.”

Those words come from a soul stirring piece of writing authored by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and like no other words he penned, these literally hit home, our home.  He wrote them in 1960 in a letter to eight student activists who were detained in the Leon County Jail for their lunch counter sit-in protests downtown. That letter is now enshrined in a powerful memorial at Cascades Park and I enjoy reading it each time I walk my dog there. It is a haunting reminder of the bravery those students showed and the importance of their actions in the national civil rights movement.

If you aren’t familiar with this recent addition to our historical landscape, I would encourage you to go seek it out. The memorial is located on the plaza level of the new AC Marriott Hotel and office development. It’s immediately across the street from the historic city waterworks building which is now a delightful local brewery. The placement of the memorial is where the entrance to the old Leon County Jail was – right where those brave students would have been marched into their cells.

The memorial came about thanks to an effort to save the old jail and turn it into a Civil Rights museum. Unfortunately, much of the historic fabric from the original building was gone and the structure would have prevented any serious re-development from occurring there. In my opinion, the memorial is a better tribute.

Designed and installed through a collaboration between the FSU Master Craftsman Studio, developer North American Properties, the City of Tallahassee, and various local stakeholders, the memorial provides anyone who views it with a better understanding of Tallahassee’s pivotal role in shaping the civil rights movement. Dr. King’s words are particularly powerful there.

In his letter, which was addressed to the late local civil rights leader the Rev. C.K. Steele, with instructions to share it with the jailed students, King encourages the activists to stay the course. He tells them, “There is nothing more majestic and sublime than the determined courage of individuals willing to suffer and sacrifice for the cause of freedom.” What a turn of phrase.

It can be hard for my generation to imagine what Tallahassee, the south, and America was like for African-Americans then, but Dr. King’s words, as displayed on the memorial, help put the struggle and perseverance of those students and other activists in the proper perspective. He closes his letter by saying, “I assure you that your valiant witness is one of the glowing epics of our time and you are bringing all of America nearer the threshold of the world's bright tomorrows.”

When I read his words on that memorial, I see how Dr. King still influences those of us living today. Have we reached the bright tomorrow he spoke of or is his point that we have to keep trying? I hear him encouraging us to continue the fight.

To think Dr. King sat down and penned such majestic words to the people of our community then and that they could still carry such weight now gives me pause each time I stop by the memorial. It’s a testament to why we honor him and the legacy of those he inspired each year with a national holiday. Although Dr. King doesn’t say it in his letter, I also read a message about our beloved capital city – If you can change Tallahassee, you just might change the world too. Keep trying.

Jay Revell is president and chief storyteller at Revell Media, a branding and marketing agency in Tallahassee.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words still hit home in Tallahassee