Good Morning. Remembering MLK Jr and what it was like before

Yeah, I'm older than my birthday and I remember things that some folks have just studied in school. I have very early memories about prejudiced attitudes displayed by adults around me and parroted by stupid kids. I spent my very early years in South Carolina and I knew something wasn't quite right even at 4 and 5 years old. 

Thank goodness my parents were a little more liberal and open-minded than most. I didn't learn to hate based on skin color and always found it astounding that others did. I remember thinking how stupid the adults at a particular church were. They had the kids singing Jesus Loves the Little Children and then would go off on their hate filled tirades when chatting with their church friends. 

I am grateful for MLK Jr and the Civil Rights Movement and I hope that his dream for children and this country are realized more and more every day.

--gina
     

morning Ginaaaaa......

A tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968)


I remember him in the misted vision of toddler years
and again in girlhood, the booming voice on TV,
someone grown-ups talked about, eyelids flapped wide.
Elders huddled 'round the screen enraptured,
in fear for him, in awe.

I remember him.
His words swept the land, singing our passion.
Dogs growled in streets. Men in sheets.
Police battering my people. (Water, a weapon.)
Yet my people would rejoice... And mourn.

I remember him, a fearsome warrior crying peace,
a man--blemished by clay, the stain of sin as
any other, calling on the Rock--
Death's sickle on his coat tails,
yet he spied glory.

Shall we walk again and remember him,
not as the Madison Aveners do,
but in solitude and hope
with acts of courage and compassion,
with lives of greater scope
carving fresh paths of righteousness?

I remember.

Oh, man! Tears, babeee.

--g

My gurl, Toni!  You are a beautiful poet!  This is the second poem of yours I have read here.  You are so talented and your big, embracing heart leaps off the page in your words.  Thank you for sharing and keep writing.

Kathy

Beautiful words to live by! I'm so grateful to Dr. King , his legacy, and life's work! I teach at an "integrated" school (We are about 65% white, 35% black) and I can't imagine teaching races separately. Yes, there are some differences in lifestyle and culture but we all embrace and respect the diversity! I also LOVE that our staff is integrated and I have friends and colleagues of several different races and cultures....it makes my life RICH!

Happy Birthday Dr. King!

I grew up in segragated schools, until high school, and with no connection to other races, religions, etc.  Except for the black couple who worked for my family, in the house and fields.  I loved them as I loved my own family.  I remember watching the race riots on TV with Lena, my maid/nanny.  We were both very, very sad.  She died in my kitchen the night before my father's funeral.  It was a very sad time in our families for all of us.

Oh my goodness, Price, I know you were beyond heartbroken.

My family also had a nanny...not a bad word back then, it is now. But it was what she was. She was more my mother than my biological mother as I grew up and taught me so much more. After she retired, I would still go get her twice a month, take her shopping, on her errands, doctor appts, whatever she needed and visit with her.

When she died I was devastated. I KNOW she would have approved of who I married. I wish she could have met him.

But she taught me to love regardless of color of skin or weight or income or any other label you put on a person. We are all equal.

 I just posted to our newbie from Canada that this site makes me cry sometimes. Your posts got the water works going this morning. Thank you for the reminder that things can get better. There is still so much negativity in our world, but we can interact with kindness and do small things to stop the cycle of hate.

This is indeed a day to be mindful of where we've come from, where we are today and the work that still needs to be done in our world so that everyone has equal opportunities. The events of the 60's shaped/changed my life, and I think, made me a better person.

Now I'm off to work.  Happy day off for those of you who get to stay home today!  :)

I remember my mother taking me to see Dr. King when I was a little girl.  The sense of love, determination, and purpose that day was so powerful.  Dr. King has been a spiritual and political compass for me throughout my life. Below are a few quotes from Dr. King. 


I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.

At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social.

I am convinced that love is the most durable power in the world. It is not an expression of impractical idealism, but of practical realism. Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, love is an absolute necessity

The movement does not seek to liberate Negroes at the expense of the humiliation and enslavement of whites. It seeks no victory over anyone. It seeks to liberate American society and to share in the self-liberation of all the people.

• “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.
• You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.
• You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve.
• You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve.
• You don’t have to know Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to serve.
• You don’t have to know the Second Theory of Thermal Dynamics to serve.
• You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love."

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'


Amy