Civic Engagement In Dr. King's Letter From Birimington Jail

Until recently I did not know how important civic engagement was. I was not aware of how necessary it is that I am civically engaged in the African American community. African Americans are not typically seen as individuals, but as a collective group, which is why without civic engagement the prosperity of our race will diminish. In Dr King’s Letter from Birimington Jail, he stated, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” This quote is meant to express the idea that as a people we are connected, and whatever we do and experience, does not just affect us individually but on a communal level. This statement is a staple for the idea of civic engagement within the African American community. Also inspires me to be engage in public concerns. Civic engagement is more than voting, or reading the newspaper, it is about knowing what is going on in the community and working to fix it.

Being “caught in a network of mutuality”, means we are bonded together, and no matter what we have to stand with each other.

We are a community, regardless of social, economic or physical status, we always have been, and in order to be successful we have to stay together. Individually we cannot grow, we can pretend that we are growing, but if we all are not growing then none of us are. Disregarding the different walks of life we come from; we are a community, which makes it a vital to engage in my community. I feel compelled to be civilly engaged because knowing that we are all one, means if I choose to not work towards being engaged in the community then we could all suffer. If I do not help my people work for better,

then
Never did I notice how so many people could less fortunate, until my junior year of high school and did a project with a PreK teacher in a nearby elementary school. Where we put on events of the young children, this program allowed all the PreK children to come out for a night and have fun, with games, other kids, and snacks. This was so important because many of the children of color in the school do not get the opportunity to have fun events, and be in a safe environment because the neighborhoods they live in at home is so unsafe. Many of the Black children’s neighborhoods lack playgrounds, and if they did have a playground it was either old or was constantly being inhabited by local drug dealers or drug abusers. After participating the Pre K after dark program I came to the realization that many kids do not have the ability to be comfortable in their own neighborhood or even get the opportunity to have a normal childhood. It became a person mission for me because I knew that the children did not have the same oppurnities as me. Many times kids would come to the events, and would be overjoyed from being able to escape their home life, and be around other kids. Sending the kids home would be the hardest parts of the event, especially since it was not an event that would happen very often. This was the turning point in how I felt about civic engagement, because of this experience I knew it was my civic duty to be involved. It affects me that many kids who look like me, and come from the same neighborhoods I grew up in, do not have the opportunities I have.
We want our community to succeed and be happy and that should be our drive. “I am because WE are and, since we are, therefore I am.” Illustrates this perfectly, we should strive for communal happiness more so than individualize happiness. We should be satisfied after knowing that our people are taken care of and that we play a role in that. When something happens to one of us whether it be good or bad, it will always affect us. If one of us, is for example killed in a police brutality situation, then we all are affected because we are all the targets, which is why we come together in times of adversary and stand as one front. Once we all make the effort to make the situations for others better, then we will prosper.
Once we all work together as a unified community to reach better for ourselves, then because some of us will have better will can all be happy. More than ever, I feel compelled to give and be civilly engaged in my community. Knowing that without my community being in a good state, my state will not matter. What is the point of being in a good state, if the people around you are suffering? If they are happy then I am happy, if they are not complete I am not either. That’s what the proverb meant, if we are without other people happy and in good state, then what the use of being in a good state is. Selfish thoughts and actions can only stretch but so far, and being in such an inclusive community, that so many people want to be a part of, but yet so many people want to tear down, like the African American community the it is the duty of everyone there to help the fellow people out and not let their cries go unnoticed. Civic engagement and community service go hand and hand, I feel as though without them we will never reach prosperity.