Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream'

Almost everybody knows Martin Luther King’s famous ‘I have a dream’ speech. However, do you know what his message was? First, let’s get some background information.

In America in the 1950s, the Declaration of Independence which declared that everyone was not to be judged based on their skin colour was far from reality. People of different skin colour to an ordinary white American were discriminated against. These people include Asians, Hispanics and blacks. The blacks were unhappy with this; they started fighting for equality; to have equal rights. After all, who would want to be treated unfairly?

Martin Luther King, Jr., was a driving force in the push for racial equality in the 1950s to 60's. In 1963, King and his supporters concentrated on Birmingham in Alabama. They protested non-violently by marching. This raised the ire of local officials who fired water cannon and set loose police dogs on the marchers, among them included teenagers and children. The bad publicity and break-down of business forced the white leaders of Birmingham to agree to several anti-segregation demands.

King helped organize a huge march in Washington, DC, on 28th August 1963. His partners in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom included other religious leaders, labour leaders, and black organizers. The assembled masses marched down the Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, playing songs from Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and speeches by actor Charlton Heston, NAACP president Roy Wilkins, and future U.S. Representative from Georgia John Lewis were said.

King’s closing speech, the one which is well known today, was broadcasted live on major television networks. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King evoked the name of Lincoln in his "I Have a Dream" speech, which is credited with mobilizing supporters of desegregation and prompted the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The following year, King was given the Nobel Peace Prize.

King’s message was simple. He wanted people of different skin colour to be treated equally. I think that his speech was a wake-up call to the leaders of America. He was also very brave to do this since he was put in jail for the Birmingham march. Without this speech, people of different races would still be treated with discrimination. This speech had a key role in the fight for human rights and equal treatment of people. For all of this, King did not ask for anything in return. His courage helped wipe out the discrimination in America.

Links:
Text: http://www.mlkonline.net/dream.html
Video: http://www.mlkonline.net/video-i-have-a-dream-speech.html

References:
http://www.mlkonline.net/dream.html
http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html

Good Leader vs Great Leader

Is a good leader a great leader? Yes! But is a great leader a good leader? Maybe not (I know this is really confusing, but all will be revealed soon. Read on...). You might ask, “What is the difference between a good leader and a great leader?” The answer to that question, to put it simply, the difference is humility. Let me give an example.

The boss of a company is a great leader. One day he decides he should thank people in the company. So what are the criteria? He opens up an employee record book and scans through the pages. Finally he reaches a decision. “I should praise those people who have been doing their job consistently!” he says to himself. He goes round the workplace thanking surprised workers but leaving others in the lurch. This isn’t very good. What would a good leader be doing? Read the next example to find out…

The boss of a company is a good leader. One day, he decides to thank people in his company. He takes out an employee record book and thinks of the criteria. “Those workers who have been doing their job consistently should get my thanks!” he says. Then what of the other workers who have not been doing a very good job? He thinks hard before reaching a solution. For those who have been working for the company for a long time, he thanks them for the time they have put into the company. For those who have no other reason for thanking, he thanks them for working for him and encourages them to work harder.

Of course the great leader might act like a good leader but that isn’t always the case. That is the difference between the two kinds of leaders. One was more humble than the other. This can make a big difference. If you are offered a job with more pay but a crappy boss, would you take it? I know I wouldn’t.
The companies with good bosses are more likely to ride out a recession if all their workers are offered jobs in other companies with bad leaders. The workers of a company with a good leader feel more appreciated by their boss and thus would want to stay on. Who knows; the new company might fire them if their work is not ‘up to standard’.

References (really long ones):
http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:I1nITx3QoeMJ:knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm%3Farticleid%3D377+good+leader+versus+great+leader&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=sg
http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:gMtiNIpzB7AJ:www.score-southmetro.org/cgi/sitemap.cgi%3Fhref%3Dworkhardtobeagoodleader.html+good+leader+versus+great+leader&cd=90&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=sg

Adolf Hitler: a Great but Bad Leader

Adolf Hitler. One name that can strike fear into even the bravest of men. Everyone knows that name. You might think he was a great leader, but is it the truth?

Adolf Hitler in 1933

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20 1889 in Austria but lead the National Socialist German Workers Party, commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was the chancellor of Germany 1933 to 1945, and also served as head of state from 1934 until 1945. He served as a runner in the First World War which was a very dangerous job as he was often exposed to enemy fire. He died on 30 April 1945 at the age of 56 by committing suicide with his mistress-turned-wife Eva Braun.

After his imprisonment because of a failed coup in 1923, he was appointed chancellor in 1933, and quickly established a totalitarian and fascist dictatorship. Hitler pursued a foreign policy with the declared goal of seizing Lebensraum for Germany, directing the resources of the state toward this goal. He invaded Poland in 1939, leading to the outbreak of World War II in Europe.

Within three years, Germany and the Axis powers occupied most of Europe and large parts of Africa, East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean. However, the Allies gained the upper hand from 1942 onward and in 1945 Allied armies invaded Germany from all sides. His forces committed numerous atrocities during the war, including the systematic killing of about 17 million civilians including the genocide of an estimated six million Jews, a crime known as the Holocaust.

Hitler was a very cunning man. He made an alliance with Japan, pressured Austria into unification with Germany and made a triumphant entry into Vienna on 14 March. He also intensified a crisis over the German-speaking Sudetenland districts of Czechoslovakia.

Unfortunately, he was also a very stubborn person. On the 3rd of March 1938, the British Ambassador Neville Henderson met Hitler and presented on behalf of his government a proposal for an international consortium to rule a large part of Africa where Germany would be assigned a leading role. However, Hitler had to promise not to have a war to change the frontiers.

Hitler was more interested in Lebensraum in Eastern Europe then in participating in international consortiums, so he rejected the offer, using the excuse that he wanted the former German African colonies returned to the Reich, not an international consortium running Central Africa.

Also, He argued that it was outrageous that Britain should try to impose conditions on German conduct in Europe as the price for territory in Africa. Hitler ended the conversation by telling Henderson he would rather wait twenty years for the return of the former colonies than accept British conditions for avoiding war.

This was a HUGE mistake because a war really did start (World War II if you do not know) and Germany lost. Furthermore, Hitler would not surrender even though he knew that Germany had lost. He kept pushing until he committed suicide. He should have just accepted the British proposal so he would not have to end his life after just 40 hours after marrying his knew wife.
In conclusion, I still think that although Hitler was a great leader, he wasn’t a good leader. He was way too stubborn for his own good.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler