Happy Birthday Doctor King, and thank you for all you did for this country. You dared to dream of a country that we couldn't even imagine back then. I think people are just now really starting to appreciate what the civil rights struggle meant to all Americans. Today is an official holiday celebrating your birthday, so that should give you some idea of how far we have come. Still, it wasn't easy, many states resisted making your birthday a holiday. (Arizona comes to mind) But that's all water under the bridge now, and I think we have moved on from that.
Oh, there is even a monument to you in Washington now, some people objected to that too, and it was done with private, and not government funding. But hey, it's there now, so I guess you could call that progress.
Your wife, Coretta, recently passed, and you would have been so proud of how she lived her life after you left. Always dignified, always pursuing your dream, and she never remarried. I guess she didn't think anyone was worthy of taking your place. Oh, your former colleagues did alright too. John Lewis is a congressman in Georgie, Jessie, is well, Jessie; he even ran for President, and his son is a Congressman. Yep, Jessie did alright for himself with what you started. As for Andrew, he might be in a Wal-Mart shopping somewhere. (Long story)
I can't believe you would be 78 today? Man time flies, seems like only yesterday that you were marching on the mall in Washington and giving that great speech. Oh, and speaking of that speech, you ought to see how conservatives have twisted it. Every time they want to push through a non-inclusive racist agenda, they invoke it. Especially the part where you say; "we should not judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." They love to throw that around when they want to justify shutting us out. They seem to forget that before we get to that point, you would want everything to be equal, and the playing field to be level. There are some other ugly things going on too. There is a war going on-some things never change-and I know you would be speaking out against this one just like you did Vietnam. In fact, you probably would speak out against this one even more, because this war was totally uncalled for, and had nothing to do with protecting our interest. Oh, did I mention that a child of the civil rights struggle is one of the architects of this war, and that she supports it one hundred percent? And remember how the FBI used to monitor your movements? Well they do that to all of us now. Yes these are very confusing times we live in, I really wish you were here.
But enough of that, it's your birthday, and I don;t want to upset you anymore with the negative stuff. There are some good things happening in America too, and I can honestly say that we have made some progress in this country since you left. Although I look around, and so much more needs to be done. I am pretty sure that if you were still around you would be keeping pretty busy.
So Happy Birthday Martin, America owes you so much.
Oh, there is even a monument to you in Washington now, some people objected to that too, and it was done with private, and not government funding. But hey, it's there now, so I guess you could call that progress.
Your wife, Coretta, recently passed, and you would have been so proud of how she lived her life after you left. Always dignified, always pursuing your dream, and she never remarried. I guess she didn't think anyone was worthy of taking your place. Oh, your former colleagues did alright too. John Lewis is a congressman in Georgie, Jessie, is well, Jessie; he even ran for President, and his son is a Congressman. Yep, Jessie did alright for himself with what you started. As for Andrew, he might be in a Wal-Mart shopping somewhere. (Long story)
I can't believe you would be 78 today? Man time flies, seems like only yesterday that you were marching on the mall in Washington and giving that great speech. Oh, and speaking of that speech, you ought to see how conservatives have twisted it. Every time they want to push through a non-inclusive racist agenda, they invoke it. Especially the part where you say; "we should not judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." They love to throw that around when they want to justify shutting us out. They seem to forget that before we get to that point, you would want everything to be equal, and the playing field to be level. There are some other ugly things going on too. There is a war going on-some things never change-and I know you would be speaking out against this one just like you did Vietnam. In fact, you probably would speak out against this one even more, because this war was totally uncalled for, and had nothing to do with protecting our interest. Oh, did I mention that a child of the civil rights struggle is one of the architects of this war, and that she supports it one hundred percent? And remember how the FBI used to monitor your movements? Well they do that to all of us now. Yes these are very confusing times we live in, I really wish you were here.
But enough of that, it's your birthday, and I don;t want to upset you anymore with the negative stuff. There are some good things happening in America too, and I can honestly say that we have made some progress in this country since you left. Although I look around, and so much more needs to be done. I am pretty sure that if you were still around you would be keeping pretty busy.
So Happy Birthday Martin, America owes you so much.
6 comments:
Very nice tribute FN. I really wonder what life would be like if he were still with us.
Yo Field excellent post. Excellent post.
What a wonderful tribute. I think you captured the spirit of the day. Thank you!
Thank you for this beautiful post!
Field... you outdid yourself with this one. Thanks for the memories and your interesting perspective on the greatest American.
I dunno FN--I am still ambivalent about Corretta and very down on the kids. They turned out only slightly less screwy and self centered as Malcolm's kids (and grandson).
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