Dr. Marva McClean
What does it take to be a true dear friend?

We may have all come in different ships but we are in the same boat now. MLK

“We may have all come in different ships but we are in the same boat now,” Martin Luther King declared decades ago. This quotation speaks so eloquently to me about the significance of friendship, mutuality and compassion.  And it makes me wonder, what does it take to be a true dear friend? What prevents us from fully showing up for others and in such a manner that they know without question that we are there; ready to be the wind beneath their wings to buoy them up? King’s quotation is particularly important to me not only because I place such a high value on friendship but also because it speaks so poignantly to the issue of race and ethnicity and the complex issue of relationships between people of color; people with a heritage rooted in the African diaspora.

Dr. King spoke often and deeply about relationships and friendship in particular, consistently examining the theme of brotherhood and the notion of our responsibility to pursue social justice and equity beyond the narrow boundaries of our personal life. I share below, some of my favorite quotations on friendship from the writings of Dr. King in the hope that they will stir you up into thoughtful reflection and perhaps action to unravel the social injustice so deeply rooted in our social landscape. We should begin at home with ourselves.

Wise Words From Dr. King!

• Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”
• All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.
• Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective.
• There can be no deep disappointment when there is no deep love.
• In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.