This past Sunday, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been 83 years old. Around the world, people remembered him and the legacy that seems to still elude us. I recently heard a commentary during which the question was asked, “if MLK were alive today, would he have embraced technology?” Would he be on Facebook? Twitter?

I say a resounding yes! He himself would not be Tweeting but be certain a staff member or grandchild would on his behalf. Dr. King understood the important role of the everyday person to improve the world and he definitely knew the power that young people possessed. He would have had a social network that could have given pointers to Obama’s first campaign. He would have had a weekly online address that could be accessed via his Facebook page, website or blog. His Tweets would have been untouchable soundbites envied by all that linked to his YouTube channel for full speeches. Blogging? Yeah, I think he would have loved it and posted himself! And rest assured, his Flip camera would be well-used.

Dr. King was astute and understood that you have to meet people where they live.  I doubt he would have had a smart phone but he would have been sure that he connected with people. Live speeches? Of course! As long as he still had that fire in him, which I think would have been white hot. And it would be standing room only. Although, I would argue that had he lived, this country would be very different…in a great way. It would not be perfect because true change is painfully slow, but we would be much further along.