ICON. What pops into my mind when I hear this word is "a hero"; a hero that touches people's heart and makes a great difference in their lives. The world has a lot of different heroes, be it in the past or in the present. To enumerate them all with their corresponding impacts to the society at large is never push-over. It entails time and effort. Nonetheless, what I will be highlighting in this article are just the two ordinary persons who made extraordinary struggles and impacts to their respective nations and whom I consider my two great icons. They are Martin Luther King, Jr. from the United States and Jose Rizal from my country, the Philippines.
These two great persons are two different heroes who belong to two different time, culture and country but share a lot of things in common. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) known as "The Great Orator of Love and Peace" is an African-American who worked for racial equality and Civil Rights in the United States.
In 1957, he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. In the eleven-year between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles.In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the African-American revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees.
On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.These two great persons are two different heroes who belong to two different time, culture and country but share a lot of things in common. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) known as "The Great Orator of Love and Peace" is an African-American who worked for racial equality and Civil Rights in the United States.
In 1957, he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. In the eleven-year between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles.In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the African-American revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees.
Jose Rizal (1861- 1896), on the other hand, known as the "The Great Writer of Revolution", is the national Hero of the Philippines who fought for the independence of the said country mainly through his pen and not through bloodshed, just like Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the hope of securing political and social reforms for his country and at the same time educate his countrymen, Rizal, the greatest apostle of Filipino nationalism, published, while in Europe, several works with highly nationalistic and revolutionary tendencies. In 1887, his daring book, NOLI ME TANGERE, a satirical novel exposing the arrogance and despotism of the Spanish clergy, was published in Berlin; in 1890 he reprinted in Paris, Morga’s SUCCESSOS DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS with his annotations to prove that the Filipinos had a civilization worthy to be proud of even long before the Spaniards set foot on Philippine soil; in1991, EL FILIBUSTERISMO, his second novel and a sequel to the NOLI and more revolutionary and tragic than the latter, was printed in Ghent.
Because of his fearless exposures of the injustices committed by the civil and clerical officials, Rizal provoked the animosity of those in power. This led himself, his relatives and countrymen into trouble with the Spanish officials of the country. As a consequence, he and those who had contacts with him were shadowed; the authorities were not only finding faults but even fabricating charges to pin him down. Thus, he was imprisoned and exiled for long years now.
His sincerity and friendliness won for him the trust and confidence of even those assigned to guard him; his intelligence and humility gained for him the respect and admiration of prominent man of other nations; while his undaunted courage to uplift the welfare of his people were feared by his enemies. When the Philippine Revolution started in 1896, his enemies l
ost no time in pressing him down. They were able to enlist witnesses that linked him to revolt and these were never allowed to be controlled by him. Thus, November of 1896 to the date of his execution, he was imprisoned. In his cell, he wrote an untitled poem, now known document expressing not only the hero's great love for the country but that all of Filipinos. After a mock trial, he was convicted of rebellion, sedation and of forming illegal associations. In Dec. 30, 1986, Rizal, a man whose 35 years of life had been packed with varied activities which proved that the Filipino has the capacity to equal if not excel even those who treat him as slave, was shot at Bagumbayan Field.
Indeed, these two intelligent and courageous persons who fought non-violently for harmony in general are heroes worth-commemorating. As their number one admirer, I am moved by their struggles.His sincerity and friendliness won for him the trust and confidence of even those assigned to guard him; his intelligence and humility gained for him the respect and admiration of prominent man of other nations; while his undaunted courage to uplift the welfare of his people were feared by his enemies. When the Philippine Revolution started in 1896, his enemies l
ost no time in pressing him down. They were able to enlist witnesses that linked him to revolt and these were never allowed to be controlled by him. Thus, November of 1896 to the date of his execution, he was imprisoned. In his cell, he wrote an untitled poem, now known document expressing not only the hero's great love for the country but that all of Filipinos. After a mock trial, he was convicted of rebellion, sedation and of forming illegal associations. In Dec. 30, 1986, Rizal, a man whose 35 years of life had been packed with varied activities which proved that the Filipino has the capacity to equal if not excel even those who treat him as slave, was shot at Bagumbayan Field.
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