Thoughts on another Holiday…
Yep, it’s MLK Day, and I’m sitting at the house looking out the back window at the naked trees and snow. Days off are nice. I guess.
I’m still the one holdout in the community that isn’t sure if I like MLK Day or not. Don’t get me wrong, he was a great man, did great things and put a topic on the table more than 50 years ago that we’re STILL discussing. I just wonder what he would think about being the focus of a “holiday”.
I remember when the campaign to have him honored was being fought in Washington. Our local representative was a friend of the family and would bounce thoughts off our father all the time, which meant he’d end up bouncing thoughts off us during dinner most nights. My voice was the lone dissension. I argued that he didn’t want to be lifted up this way and the entire idea of having a day off to celebrate Martin kinda went again everything he’d worked so hard for: you know, right to vote, right to have a decent job and wage, civil rights that worked for EVERYONE. I, of course, was poo poo’d and told to eat my spinach.
So, here I sit on MLK Day, staring out the window at the naked trees and snow.
I will, as always, reflect on the importance of his life’s work, but I just feel like I should be at WORK, teaching the children about him, telling them what I knew, seeing how I was around for a minute or two before he died. Yet, that isn’t meant to be. Most of mine students are probably still in bed or propped up in front of a television watching something they have no business watching or playing a video game full of violence and sexual connotation. In different places around the community, people are praying for peace and justice and lifting him up as the liaison of all things socially correct in our country. Politicians will be asked about him and his work, old civil rights leaders and workers will reminisce on the days of old; somewhere, some old Klansman is cussing quietly about how the country is going to hell in a hand basket.
I am who I am, have what I have, will do as I choose, partly because of the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. His dream of equality is becoming less of a dream and more of a living breathing reality in the lives of those who CHOOSE to work towards it. Yes, there is still injustice. Yes, there is still racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, etc., but with each passing generation since his death, the world as we know it has become a wee bit less straitified. At least, we acknowledge the things that are still wrong and SOME of us are discussing how to make it better. Some are working daily to change it all, one interaction at a time. That’s all he asked of us, isn’t it?
So, all the speech making, loud talking, round table discussions, etc., do they count for anything after all this time? Are we ALL taking action to change the world as we know it, or are we waiting for the next Martin to come along to “save” us, to “inspire” us, to do the talking for us? Or are we enjoying our day off?
Thank you, Martin, for the calling you were given, and the courage it took you to accept that calling. I thank God for living and experiencing the world as it was during your lifetime and being able to see it change, if only a little. I promised myself that 2012 would be a year of renewal, reevaluation, and reflection. Considering your life and your work is always a good place to start on that particular journey, isn’t it.
I think I’ll go out and stand in the snow for a minute or two. Then I’ll find something educational on the topic to put on my class website for the students to complain about tomorrow. Have an amazing day everyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fUVsursZ-Vg
Related articles
- Happy MLK Day: 10 Interesting And Surprising Facts You May Not Know About Martin Luther King, Jr. (bossip.com)
- Rev. Martin Luther King (rabbittrails.net)
- Martin Luther King Jr. archives: Reagan makes Martin Luther King Day official (thegrio.com)
