King @ 95, Soccer, & Beyond

Ninety-five years ago this week, a very important Atlantan was brought into the world: Martin Luther King Jr. Today, on our national day of observance, we honor the man, his work, and the social justice movement he helped to spearhead. MLK made an impact on the American culture and other cultures around the globe that will never be forgotten. Though the majority of that impact happened through organizing and public speaking, sports were also a factor in his history.

In the 1950s & 60s, soccer had yet to make a significant impact on America; baseball was the game of choice for most Americans, and in the early days of the civil rights movement,  Jackie Robinson was a leading light for equality, winning battings titles and MVP trophies.
 
I believe something King said about Jackie Robinson and his baseball career has a direct impact on the work of Soccer in the Streets and the game of soccer in modern America... "(Jackie was) a pilgrim that walked in the lonesome byways toward the high road of Freedom. He was a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides." He also said, “Jackie Robinson made my success possible. Without him, I would never have been able to do what I did.”

In American history and throughout the world, sport has often been a gateway or catalyst for communication, sharing, and (potentially) understanding. As soccer," the world's game," takes a greater hold over the eyeballs and imaginations of Americans, it creates new pathways for us to be involved in the world and learn more about how people across the world live.

Many of us are familiar with King's "Let freedom ring" quote: "Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring." However, my favorite is this: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."

I believe the "arc of the moral universe" isn't exclusively expressed in time or written history. As individual people in society, making choices and expressing our truth, we are a part of the gravitational force that can make the arc bend, and as Soccer in the Streets puts more and more children on the pitch and works harder and harder to bring their voices and experience to the fore, we do nothing but quicken that curve and support the struggle for equality in our community and hopefully throughout society.