Caribbean: Thank You, Dr. King  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Today, the United States marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day – a floating holiday which celebrates the birthday of the late civil right leader.  The occasion resonates with Caribbean bloggers, both at home and throughout the diaspora and a few of them share their thoughts…
Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp, who lives in Miami, Florida, acknowledges the impact that Dr. King's “Letter from Birmingham Jail” has had on his life, noting that his latest book “include[s] a few of the lessons that [he] had learned from reading and teaching Dr. King's letter to [his] undergraduate students at Miami Dade College”.  He calls Dr. King's letter “one of the great moral texts of the twentieth century, [which] should be required reading in the training of young minds.”
Cuban diaspora blogger Michael Pancier put his tribute into “a little photo and video montage”, made from images he took during a visit to The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia.  His compatriot, Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter, also acknowledges the importance of the day:
The critiques against Martin Luther King Jr. and nonviolence are of importance today because around the world in Egypt, Tunisia, Burma, Cuba and elsewhere movements have emerged that are inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.'s example of nonviolent struggle. In the United States elements within the Occupy Wall Street movement have embraced Martin Luther King Jr. and are organizing acts of remembrance on his birthday.
In the U.S. Virgin Islands, Live De Life uploads a video of Will Kimbrough performing the “Ballad of Martin Luther King”, saying:
Figured this was appropriate for the holiday.
Finally, Afrobella posts a heartfelt “thank you” to Dr. King…”for everything”:
Dr. King was assassinated 44 years ago, and in the sands of time it is easy to forget that Dr. King was a real person. A man with a beautiful wife and family. A man who became the public face of a movement. A man who tirelessly worked, marched, got arrested, spoke eloquently on the topics of peace, love, and justice — and ultimately gave his life to the cause of racial equality.
Thank you, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Without you, who knows where we would be today.