Darkness cannot drive out darkness

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.” - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Darkness often represents ignorance, fear, and hopelessness. The light of a single candle pushes back the darkness and brings knowledge into ignorance, strength into fear, hope into a hopelessness.

Education is represented by the lamp of knowledge. It lights a path for children and adults to achieve their dreams. It fights back poverty and crime and illuminates the way forward into a brighter day.

In his quote, I am guessing that Dr. King was not just talking about education in referring to the light that drives out darkness, but education is a powerful beacon of hope in our world. Too often taken for granted, it is the education that we provide to our children that ensures a bright future for them and for our country.

Our challenge, then, is to be the caretakers of the light. We must ensure that every child has the opportunity to escape the darkness and live in the light of possibility, of a bright future. We must keep the light lit and not allow others to extinguish the light or limit where the light is lit.

For me, I will always come back to the need for a strong public education system. It is when we share the light of knowledge with all that we are truly great.