The Nobel Peace Prize winner and civil rights movement leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn. He changed my life forever and I was only 2. My mom used to remind me as I got older of a man who was tired of there being a split in this world. She told of a man who was black and was smarter than anyone would ever be. I was so happy she told me these stories, because I might never have really known about him until I got older.She also reminded me of the day that this super-smart man she talked about was murdered on a balcony in Memphis by some other guy we now know as James Earl Ray. It still saddens me that he was killed for fighting for what he believed in.

I should also tell you that my mom and dad raised us to never see color and to love everyone equally. I still live like this. To be honest, it is one of the reasons that I do not go back to my hometown. My parents raised me in a small community because they thought that would be the right thing. It was -- except everyone was white, everyone. And no one back home understood Nobel Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. like I did.

When I mentioned him in school, half of the other kids didn't even know who I was talking about. That saddens me. Everyone should know. No one should ever forget the heroism of one man and his dream to change the world. Change it like my mom wanted to and not see color. To always see good and love.

We miss you, Dr. King, and I stand by your dream every day of my life.

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