Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is an Inspiring Resilience Role Model

This week we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who brought hope and healing to America. Thanks to his resilience, Dr. King was able to accomplish goals that seemed impossible and out of reach.

Dr. King's resilience allowed him to be flexible, adapt quickly, and collaborate well with others. He made quick and effective decisions in a crisis and persisted despite adversity.

What made Dr. King such a resilient person and a leader who inspired resilience within the civil rights community?

Religion

A few years ago, I visited Montgomery, Alabama, and was privileged to tour the church where Dr. King served as a pastor. I learned how much Dr. King looked to his religion for meaning and purpose. While having a religious belief is not required for resilience, studies consistently show that being a member of a religious community can enhance resilience.

Social Support

Dr. King reached out to his wife Coretta, the rest of his immediate family, and members of their church to support and encourage him during his years of struggle. When I toured his home in Montgomery, the guides described the importance he placed on his family and how they would host social gatherings to draw support from friends in the community. Dr. King surrounded himself with people whom he could lean on and who helped him endure.

Recovery Time

Dr. King's days were long and arduous. They took a toll on him physically and mentally. What struck me when visiting his home was how he created space for contemplation and recovery. He would spend hours in his office praying, reading, and thinking. Taking this time allowed him to recover from stress and hardship.

Altruism

Dr. King believed strongly in helping others. When sanitation workers went on strike in Memphis, he gave his support because he wanted to help others in need. Staff at the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis told me that Dr. King was tempted not to go to the church to give his Mountaintop speech because it was pouring rain, and he was tired. Dr. King went anyway because he wanted to support the striking workers. In this remarkable speech, he explained that the question he posed to himself was not, "If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?" The question was, "If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?"

Reframing

Dr. King was a master at reframing negative situations, which allowed him to maintain a positive outlook despite tragedy. He knew that staying mired in negativity and hatred would erode his resilience and lead to bitterness. In his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, he reframed the civil rights movement from a struggle of mighty proportions to an inspiring dream embraced by many.

Staying positive wasn't always easy, especially when white extremists bombed his house. In his autobiography, he wrote: “While I lay in that quiet front bedroom, I began to think of the viciousness of people who would bomb my home. I could feel the anger rising when I realized that my wife and baby could have been killed. I was once more on the verge of corroding hatred. And once more I caught myself and said: ‘You must not allow yourself to become bitter.’ ”

How do you draw inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?

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To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.

Black Lives Matter

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People often ask me whether teaching people to thrive in adversity is undermining efforts to reduce or eliminate the causes of trauma and chronic stress. If the focus is only on individual resilience, then the answer is yes. For example, expecting Black people to maintain their resilience in a culture that perpetuates systemic and institutionalized racism is unrealistic and harmful.

If we are silent about the violence and threats to the lives and well-being of Black people, our communities will suffer. The coronavirus highlighted how America is marginalizing Black and brown people. If you’re Black, watching police murder George Floyd is a reminder that this could easily have been you or someone you love. The anger we are seeing is a normal response to centuries of oppression and injustice.

To be truly resilient, we need to promote equality and justice in our communities. The first step in overcoming systemic racism and injustice is to understand and admit that there is a problem.

In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded America that "a riot is the language of the unheard." If you are white, ask African American friends, neighbors, and colleagues about their life experiences. Listen without ego and defensiveness. Ask yourself, what are you failing to hear? Try to understand how institutionalized racism impacts Black people. Recognize your privilege and what you take for granted because you are white.

Unfortunately, not much has changed since 1967. A Black woman recently described how U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers persistently targeted her when she crossed the U.S. border while working at the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez. Institutional racism and the lack of a meaningful response shattered her dream of being a U.S. diplomat. How many other Black people lost their dreams due to racism and injustice? How many Black people lost their lives due to police brutality? Check out this website for ten reasons to support Black Lives Matter.

With understanding comes action. We all need to have an intentional mindset that racism is everyone's problem. White people need to commit to actively opposing racism and injustice. Participate in collective actions against racism. Challenge the "color-blind" ideology, which contributes to racism. Call out racist jokes or statements. Expand opportunities in the workplace for people of color. Donate to organizations promoting racial equality. Vote for politicians who are committed to racial justice and anti-racist policies. Oppose policies that perpetuate structural racism. Hold police and other government officials accountable for civil rights violations. This hand-out by Anneliese A. Singh lists several actions you can take to combat racism. Corinne Shutack published a list on Medium of 75 things white people can do for racial justice. Make a special effort to shop at Black-owned businesses.

Resilience is about healthy and equitable communities that offer social, physical, and mental well-being to all of their residents. It's about cultures that promote fairness and inclusion for all its members. We cannot have resilience without social justice.

What are you doing to combat racism and injustice?

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To learn more about how you and your team can thrive in adversity, visit my website, and follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. And, check out my online Resilience Leadership course.