Heartbreaking News

My beloved Prince has died, he was 57… my heart is torn in two…

I will miss you, Prince Rogers Nelson

#atozchallenge – Robert F. Kennedy Inspires Me

Whenever I reflect back on great men and women of History, I always come back to one man: Robert F. Kennedy. I often try to imagine what kind of world we would be living in now if he had not been assassinated and had become President. I’d like to believe that we would be living in a more gentle and peaceful world. Unlike his brother, JFK who was accustomed to the spotlight, RFK was a quieter, more shy man. He kept himself mostly in the background during JFK’s run for presidency and was his brother’s campaign manager. RFK didn’t like injustices and worked diligently to bring down mob bosses like Jimmy Hoffa. He saw the moral flaws in holding back the Civil Right’s Movement. And although he was a member of one of the wealthiest and most influential families of the times, he understood the plights of the working class.

I grew up hearing stories of how Camelot died when JFK was assassinated, but I think it truly didn’t die until RFK was assassinated. By then, we had lost so many great leaders – JFK, MLK, and Malcolm X. RFK was the last hope, it seemed, for a peaceful world. I became obsessed with RFK in my mid-twenties and over the years, I have done extensive research on him, the issues of the 60s and his entire family. Although the entire family is impressive, it is RFK that I admire the most and it is he who has inspired me the most. Through him, I learned compassion and unity, hope and forgiveness. I have a lot of misgivings behind the official stories of JFK and RFK’s assassinations. I won’t get into them here, but just suffice to say, I don’t believe the official versions. There are just too many unexplained instances in both. Here are a few of my favorite RFK quotes:

 

And here is the speech RFK gave when he heard that MLK had been assassinated:

There were riots all over America after MLK’s assassination, but in Indianapolis, where RFK gave that speech, the people remained calm. That was the power of his words. That was his greatest moment, in my opinion. Here is a documentary about RFK. If you watch nothing else of this documentary, watch and listen to the way the crowd reacts to him in the opening segment at the DNC in 1964. His brother had died 10 months earlier and suddenly RFK was thrust into the spotlight:

Interesting Facts: Robert Kennedy was the third son and the seventh child. He served in the U.S. Naval Reserves from 1944-46. He was a lawyer and politician. He and his wife Ethel had 11 children. JFK was only 42 when he was assassinated. (source)

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Thank you for joining me for the A-to-Z Challenge. If you’d like to see who else is participating, check them out here.

Each day, I will be posting about People Who Inspire Me.