Like his famous father, Martin Luther King III is also a community activist. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of uniting whites and blacks in the United States. The famous Reverend’s son now hails the reaching out to the Islamic world by US President Barack Obama.

In a statement from Nairobi where he is currently attending the conference on the United Nations Millennium Goals, Martin Luther King III commended the great reversal in Obama’s strategy with regard to the Muslim world, after the military policies of George W. Bush who ordered the intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan. He recalled that the first interview Obama gave soon after moving to the White House was to a Middle East media channel, not to Fox or ABC. King III also reiterated what Obama said that being a Christian is ‘not an impediment to reach out to other cultures.’

In Martin Luther King III’s view, the new leadership ‘represents a new energy that we have not seen in a long time in world politics.’ He admits, though, that the current economic situation will make the work of Obama’s administration more difficult. “He has a tough task ahead,” he said.

The lawyer and social activist from Atlanta, a staunch Christian like his legendary father, stressed that terrorism is not exclusive to Muslims. “In the US, we are well aware that any person can commit an attack, just remember the tragedy in Oklahoma,” he said in reference to the anarchist attack in 1995 that killed 168 people.

Martin Luther King III’s foundation carries out developmental programs in Kenya. His group is involved in the construction of homes for displaced people and in a project that brings together descendants of famous personalities such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, King Abdullah of Jordan, Gandhi, and Yitzhak Rabin for the fight against injustice and suppression of conflict.

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Via The Washington Post