"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated on this day in 1968 in Memphis, TN.
Dr. King fought passionately for civil rights and voting rights, knowing that it put his life in constant jeopardy. The segregationist and racist forces that were arrayed against him in the '60s have reemerged in the Republican Party. They don't wear Klan robes now, preferring business suits, blow-dried hairstyles, and code words. But in Georgia, as in Texas, Arizona and other states, they're working mightily to restore those days as they cling to power through voter suppression, gerrymandering, and other anti-democratic actions. Had he lived to this day, you can be certain that to the extent a 92- year- old man could, he would be in front of efforts to stop the new Republican Jim Crow laws. He would never be silent about denying voting rights, this "thing that matters," and neither should we.
(photo: Aides point in the direction of the assassin's shot. Joseph Louw via Getty Images)
My introduction to MLK was as a young boy, who arising one early Saturday morning to watch cartoons came to see my father watching a large gathering of people mostly black who were fixated on a man delivering a speech.I may have been eight at the time. I asked my dad what was going on, and he, to his credit, explained the world in which we lived. I was taken aback by the unfairness of it all, but was also enthralled by the power of the man's speech. Back then no one questioned the lynchings and murders of those working for equal rights. It was the norm. Zoom forward more than 60 years, and yes we've made some progress, but progress is painfully slow, but I think the majority of Americans understand the wrongness of American apartheid and want a society where we're all equal under the law. But we still have our George Floyds and Breonna Taylors, people whose lives were taken from them for the crime of being black. That morning I remember MLK saying, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” We're not there yet but maybe his great grandchildren will live to see it...
ReplyDeleteJimmy T -- Thank you so much for sharing your personal remembrance and thoughts. They were so well expressed and moving. Thank you.
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