"Happy" MLK Jr. Day?
I saw several posts today on a variety of social networking sites saying something on the order of "Happy MLK Day!"
And to each one, my internal reply was, "happy? Really?"
I'm not happy Martin Luther King, Jr. is dead. He should still be alive. I'm not happy for *why* he's dead. I'm happy for what his life accomplished, certainly. But if he hadn't been killed, we probably wouldn't be celebrating his life today, right?
*sigh*
I'm thankful, once again, for the short time I spent in Mississippi with John M. Perkins and his foundation many years ago. It makes everything more fresh and me more *aware*. As we passed the site of one of his times of imprisonment, and Mr. Perkins was telling of some of what had happened, he said something about "30 years ago", and OH! I'll never forget the shock I felt when it registered in my brain as he said that that THIS ... THIS! had happened in my lifetime. Not hundreds or thousands of years ago. Not 75 years ago. Just 30 before (that visit), this had happened. I was alive when Mr. Perkins was abused in a jail he never should have been in in the first place -- he was there simply because of the color of his skin.
I'm just often struck by things like this. "Happy" MLK Day? No. Remember MLK Today? Yes.
And to each one, my internal reply was, "happy? Really?"
I'm not happy Martin Luther King, Jr. is dead. He should still be alive. I'm not happy for *why* he's dead. I'm happy for what his life accomplished, certainly. But if he hadn't been killed, we probably wouldn't be celebrating his life today, right?
*sigh*
I'm thankful, once again, for the short time I spent in Mississippi with John M. Perkins and his foundation many years ago. It makes everything more fresh and me more *aware*. As we passed the site of one of his times of imprisonment, and Mr. Perkins was telling of some of what had happened, he said something about "30 years ago", and OH! I'll never forget the shock I felt when it registered in my brain as he said that that THIS ... THIS! had happened in my lifetime. Not hundreds or thousands of years ago. Not 75 years ago. Just 30 before (that visit), this had happened. I was alive when Mr. Perkins was abused in a jail he never should have been in in the first place -- he was there simply because of the color of his skin.
I'm just often struck by things like this. "Happy" MLK Day? No. Remember MLK Today? Yes.