Coinciding Events

Happy MLK Day!!

 

Today, January 21, 2013, I went to work.  It was also the day the country celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Coinciding with this event, President Barack H. Obama was sworn in for a second term as our elected Commander In Chief.

 

I know that may have upset or even angered some of my Black associates but I don’t see why that should be.  I am Black and I am an American and I am proud to be both.

Before I got to work, a Caucasian man approached me and exclaimed, “Happy MLK Day.” I was caught off guard and my guard was down the entire day.  It made me think, how many black people did I pass and I did not say Happy MLK Day and vice versa?

 

There isn’t a day that passes that I don’t stop to thank Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., civil activists like Daisy Bates, the freedom riders, those whose lineage precedes mine; those who did not have the opportunity to complete elementary school, secondary school or even have complete thoughts about completing tertiary education.

 

I am thankful for the 1896 Supreme Court doctrine of separate but equal in Plessy v. Ferguson; it set precedence and didn’t know how powerful a case 117 years later.  I have to think about the struggles my great grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles endured for me to enjoy the luxuries (as they put it) we take for granted today.

 

Have you ever stopped to think what the world would be today if those civil right activists and freedom riders, black and white, did not stand up for what was right and just?  We would still have the “COLORED or NEGRO’S ONLY” signs still posted at the water fountains, bathroom and signs pointing to where we could go.

 

If Dr. King listened to the 99% instead of that 1%, would he have told anyone about his dream, would we (black, non-black and whites) enjoy the civil rights and advancements we have today?  We may not have been as far as we are now but we would have made impactful advancements.

 

I heard question posed on the radio a number of years back that asked, “Which generation more impactful; the 40 years before the Civil Rights Movement or the 40 after the Civil Rights Movement?”  That is a valid question to ask.  It makes you wonder, think and ponder, makes you want to investigate what was done before and during the Civil Rights Movement to make situations manageable after the movement.

 

Our forefathers paid the ultimate price for us to be able to work beside Asians, Jews, Caucasians, Islamic, Mexicans and Lutherans on this day and the other 364 days in the year.

 

Stop! Think! Look! Listen! Read! Comprehend!…so that unspeakable parts history do not keep repeating itself.

 

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