Since it’s Martin Luther King day today, it seems appropriate that we write an article relevant to Dr. King’s message. But of course with our own celebrity twist. Denzel Washington was on “The Early Show” on Monday, and he talked about how the civil rights struggle affected his own upbringing and that of his children. Washington did an incredible job portraying Malcolm X in Spike Lee’s 1992 biopic. Malcolm X fought for civil rights in a very different way than Martin Luther King. Washington has great perspective on the history and the struggle.

On The Early Show Monday, co-anchor Harry Smith asked Washington whether Dr. King was “a part of the conversation” in his household. “You know,” Washington responded, “My father was a minister. So there was this talk of this other guy, Malcolm X, that was not allowed to somehow be talked about, and of course there was Martin Luther King.

“In retrospect, I think what he and Malcolm X and John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy had in common is they were the first television stars, if you will, leaders. Television activists, I mean. Of course, I remember the March on Washington, famous speech and things like that. You know, you had this image, (and) now this person’s in your house.”

[From CBS News]

Washington also says his parents did their best to shield their kids from discrimination. He described family trips taken to his father’s home state of Virginia, when the family couldn’t stop at restaurants and other places due to the different social climate at the time. Yet his parents never told him why.

“You know what was interesting for my generation,” Washington remembered, “is that, because we were sort of protected, I remember taking trips down South – our father grew up in Virginia – and I remember us not being able to stop at places. I didn’t quite know why. It was like, we hit the Jersey Turnpike, he gassed up. You went all the way to Virginia. You hit the last Howard Johnson’s, and that was it, you know? Or they brought the food with us, you know? And I didn’t exactly know why.

[From CBS News]

Denzel goes on to note that his parents’ attempts to protect him had good and bad results. He really believed that the world would be a good place and people would be treated equally, and was surprised when that didn’t turn out to be true.

”…you thought, in your lifetime, ‘Oh, everything’s going to be perfect, like Martin Luther King said.’ And then you get out there in the real world, and it ain’t. I try to teach my children there are going to be obstacles. Someone may not like you just because they don’t like themselves. You know what I mean? But don’t you get bogged down, and don’t be a hater, you know? Don’t let hatred destroy you, you know? Overcome it. Move on. Educate them, if you will.”

[From CBS News]

I saw Denzel’s movie “The Great Debaters” recently, and it seems like he really brought that message to it. Denzel directed and starred in the film. The idea to not let hatred destroy you and to overcome it is an incredibly valuable message that applies not just today but to our lives as a whole, and the human condition. Today is a great day to take some time and reflect on Martin Luther King’s message, how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go.