Martin Luther King, Jr

Usually for me the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday in January is a non-event.  I mean, it's not very relatable and it has always seemed really far removed from my life.  But I participated in a couple of events over the last few days that has gotten me to look at this holiday in a different light.

Yesterday, my church had a reading of Martin Luther King, Jr's "Letter From The Birmingham Jail".  I had heard of the letter and may even have looked at it in High School.  But never seriously.  The document is long.  And it is beautifully written.  There were four of us who took it section by section and read it to a large gathering.  It took almost 50 minutes and you could hear a pin drop.  As I said, the document is beautifully written and it is very powerful.  There are many, many passages that cause one to really ponder the state of race relations in our country, both in that time and today.  One portion I read really resonated with me.  Here it is:

• But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation -and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.

As I said...powerful.  And then tonight, we had a showing of the movie "Ruby Bridges" at Church followed by discussion.  This is a Disney movie that tells the story of a little 6-year-old who integrates schools in New Orleans, seemingly single handedly.  It is also a great story with many, many relevant messages.  Highly recommended.  

Both of these events got me thinking about Martin Luther King, Jr.  His life, his devotion to non-violence, his ability to rally people to a cause, his determination.  He was a guy who is easy to admire.   When I think about how much pain and despair he had to put up with in his life, it is amazing to me that he was able to consistently rally people to the cause of racial justice.  I think his legacy will only widen and increase as time goes on.  And when I read the stories, look at the difference he made, and think about his journey, it's not very surprising.

Update:  Maybe not so much update as completion.  I was tired last night and hit publish when I should have just saved and completed my thoughts today.  I've blogged about this before, especially in light of recent events in Ferguson, NYC, and Ohio.  So combine those events with a heightened awareness of Martin Luther King, Jr day and the thoughts seem to coalesce.  So just to be clear there are no easy answers.  But this dialog will continue because of the legacy of slavery and segregation, because of the poverty and despair in a large segment of the black population, and because, I hope, the determination of good people to make things better.  I continue to believe that the keys are personal responsibility, education, and increased economic opportunity.  These things can all be attacked on the Federal, State and local levels.  There are no silver bullets though and things won't change overnight.  As we go through our lives, all of us need to be aware, be working where and when we can to make it better, and vote for people who will actively work on those three things.  To date I haven't seen anyone take these issues head on and offer programs to help.  My opinion is that there are too many shrill voices making unreasonable demands for their own good (Sharpton, Jackson, et al), too many politicians giving lip service to the problem (Obama, who has been massively disappointing on the issue), and too many obstructionists (teachers unions) to give these things a chance.