The article argues that Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of equality and justice did not include imprisoning children for life without parole. It notes that the US and Somalia are the only countries that sentence children in this way. It discusses an advocate working to end this practice and calls on communities to honor King's legacy by raising awareness of issues impacting children and families, holding leaders accountable, and reducing incarceration.

1. 8/20/12 MARTIN LUTHER KING’S DREAM DID NOT INCLUDE CHILDREN IMPRISONED FOR LIFE | GreaterLongBea…
MARTIN LUTHER KING’S DREAM DID NOT INCLUDE
CHILDREN IMPRISONED FOR LIFE
By Lydia A. Ho llie
January 16, 2012 Essays & Asides
“Our lives begin to
end the day we
become silent about
things that matter.”
—Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
During this day of
reflection on the life
of Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., my
memory has led me
to an e-mail I recently
received from Javier Stauring of the Healing Justice Co alitio n, which again
illuminated the dark fact that the United States and Somalia have the only judicial
systems in the international community that sentence their children to life
imprisonment without parole.
A Roman Catholic lay chaplain for incarcerated youth, Stauring is an internationally
known advocate for restorative justice and against the U.S. practice of consigning
its youth to ho peless lives behind bars.
I met Stauring two years ago during my studies at the USC Institute for Violence
Prevention. Through his advocacy, we examined and learned about this nation’s
treatment of its children as
reflected in the various policies it
has adopted to detain them
indefinitely—rather than construct
environments where a child’s
humanity is respected and caring
adults are available to help
children successfully navigate
through the vicissitudes of life.
Today, as we consider King’s perspective on the value of our shared humanity,
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Stauring’s e-mail is a painful
reminder of the extreme
vulnerability of children—the ease
by which they are maligned by
our society and our nation’s
willingness to discard their future
rather than invest the appropriate
time and resources to secure it.
King rightly observed that
“whatever affects one directly,
affects all indirectly. I can never
be what I ought to be until you are
what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I
ought to be.”
Ostensibly, the purpose of our work in the field of youth violence prevention and
intervention is to influence and reconfigure the sociological, political and economic
landscape so that the future of a parent’s daughter or son is never
destined for
imprisonment for any
reason. Therefore,
as long as one child
prisoner enters and
remains in this
nation’s prisons, jails,
probation camps, in
its law enforcement
and welfare
databases or under
the jurisdiction of its
courts or
bureaucracies, our
society will never be
all that it ought to be.
So how do we
demonstrate respect for Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy, and in the process,
measure up to his standard for service to humanity? How do we avoid making a
mockery of what he and others endured and died for?
Rev. King’s response is succinct and unambiguous, “Whatever your life’s work is,
do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn
could do it no better.”
Reducing violence and saving lives are embedded in restored neighborhoods and
revitalized communities. Looking ahead at this new year, I believe the Long Beach
community can bring honor to King and his legacy of genuine service to humanity in
three important ways:
• Raise the bar of community awareness and effective engagement in the political
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process to advance community-driven initiatives;
• Hold the community as well as the political and economic establishment
accountable for decisions that adversely impact neighborhood quality of life;
• Increase obstacles to incarceration (through strengthened partnerships and
collaborations) by decreasing risk factors that infringe upon the ability of children
and their families to thrive and prosper in peace.
Lydia A. Hollie, JD, MAED, is the past co-chair of the
Long Beach Department of Health and Human
Services’ Weed and Seed Steering Committee (2007-
2011); past chair of the Long Beach CalGRIP
(Transition, 2009); past chair of the Long Beach Youth
and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force (2005-
2009); past chair of the Long Beach Human Relations
Commission (2001-2003).
Read more: child incarceratio n,
GreaterLo ngBeach.co m, Healing Justice
Co alitio n, Javier Stauring, Jr., Lo ng Beach, Lydia
Ho llie, Martin Luther King, Rev, witho ut paro le
Read more by Lydia A. Ho llie
Copyright © 2012 GreaterLongBeach.com
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