I recently conducted a survey (albeit unscientific) to see what people thought and knew about Martin Luther King, Jr. I did this by bringing up the subject of MLK Day in casual conversations with people and gauging their reaction. (The sampling was 23 friends, colleagues, and strangers; 10 Black, 9 White, 3 Hispanic, 1 Asian; 4 were between the ages 42-35 and 19 were 34-20.) All knew King as the famous black civil rights leader who was killed, but few knew much more. The majority of people under 30 — regardless of race — knew little more, in fact.

      How is it that Jil (black, 27, college educated) did not know that MLK was a Nobel Peace Prize recipient? Or that Tim (white, 31, college educated) was clueless about King's non-violent approach to civil rights activism?

      Darlene (black, 23) thought she should have the day off to sleep in. She had no idea the MLK day is really about doing something to inspire others.

      What is the point of having a day to mark the man if we do not understand the significance of his life? How is it that not only one of the greatest Americans, but one of the most influential humans in the history of our planet is not better known in this country? Had King been a football player or a musician, he may have registered better with the present generation.

      Martin Luther King, Jr. was more than just an inspirational black leader. His desire and ability to rise above his own failings and those of fellow humans uplifted us all — both those who were living at the time and those who have come after. Even if we do not know it, our world is a better place because of his light.

      Dr. King's life was extinguished more than 30 years ago, but not his light. It is still here for each of us to carry, and to illuminate even brighter with our own unique creativity and contributions.

      Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. After graduating from Morehouse College and becoming a minister, he made his way to Montgomery, Alabama in 1954. This was an important decision for it was in the same city that, on December 1 of the following year, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. King was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association and led a boycott of Montgomery buses throughout 1956, which brought him national recognition.

      King's legacy of non-violent activism was influenced by the teachings of Jesus and Gandhi. King reinforced and expanded his Biblical convictions during a visit to India in 1959, where he studied Gandhi's methods of non-violent protest. The knowledge was put to effective use through non-violent civil rights protests during the early 1960's.

      A gifted orator, King ignited the world and a generation in the cause for American civil rights with his "I Have A Dream" speech on Aug 28 1963 to a crowd of 250 000 in Washington, D.C.

      "We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force." ... "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." ... "When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"

      Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize and was named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" in 1964. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, he said, "Non-violence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflicts a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."

      King was one of the most extraordinary humans to ever grace our planet. He was a man who met hate and hopelessness with love and inspiration. He used non-violence to point out the obscenity of violence.

      Martin Luther King was gunned down at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Some call it irony. I choose to think of it as his final lesson to us.