Washington, DC - August 28, 1963
It's International Blog Against Racism Week. And I can't seem to get my LJ act together and I'm sick with an evil death cold and to add insult to injury, I got my period this morning. *throws hands up* I just can't brain. So I'm gonna cheat.
And, I figure, there's no greater cheat to call upon for this topic than the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.
We all know about that famous speech, the famous words about Dr. King's dream. We read it in school or we've heard a thousand soundbites on TV, or whatever, blah blah blah. Right? It's a cliche, right?
Which is kind of like saying: "O shur, I no that Hamlet play rly gud! '2 B or not 2 B', rite?"
A little while ago, I was watching a documentary (as you do, when you're me, for fun) on the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s. They played most of this speech. I realized that I'd never actually heard the whole thing all at once before. And, I'll admit it, I teared up, I broke out into chills all over. Cliche, yes, but true. I found myself truly and deeply affected by something I thought I'd seen and heard a thousand times before.
Then a commentator, someone who knew Dr. King personally and was one of the men behind him at the podium, said something like, "And he's giving his speech and it's great. Then he stopped, and turned his paper over, put his hands down on the podium, and leaned back. He went off-script, and said, 'Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.' Now those people in Washington that day didn't know it, but in that moment they stopped being at a protest on the National Mall and were brought into church." You can tell, once you know this, where it is that he moves from prepared speech to inspired witness-bearing.
So do me a favor. Take the 15 min to watch this. Watch the whole thing. Just sit, and watch, and listen. Feel it. Think about it. All the phrases and ideas in it that are no less truths for not having been neatly packaged and repeated until we no longer hear them. Listen. Think about how far we've come as a society. And think about how incredibly far we've yet to go. Let Dr. King witness to you.
And, I figure, there's no greater cheat to call upon for this topic than the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.
We all know about that famous speech, the famous words about Dr. King's dream. We read it in school or we've heard a thousand soundbites on TV, or whatever, blah blah blah. Right? It's a cliche, right?
Which is kind of like saying: "O shur, I no that Hamlet play rly gud! '2 B or not 2 B', rite?"
A little while ago, I was watching a documentary (as you do, when you're me, for fun) on the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s. They played most of this speech. I realized that I'd never actually heard the whole thing all at once before. And, I'll admit it, I teared up, I broke out into chills all over. Cliche, yes, but true. I found myself truly and deeply affected by something I thought I'd seen and heard a thousand times before.
Then a commentator, someone who knew Dr. King personally and was one of the men behind him at the podium, said something like, "And he's giving his speech and it's great. Then he stopped, and turned his paper over, put his hands down on the podium, and leaned back. He went off-script, and said, 'Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.' Now those people in Washington that day didn't know it, but in that moment they stopped being at a protest on the National Mall and were brought into church." You can tell, once you know this, where it is that he moves from prepared speech to inspired witness-bearing.
So do me a favor. Take the 15 min to watch this. Watch the whole thing. Just sit, and watch, and listen. Feel it. Think about it. All the phrases and ideas in it that are no less truths for not having been neatly packaged and repeated until we no longer hear them. Listen. Think about how far we've come as a society. And think about how incredibly far we've yet to go. Let Dr. King witness to you.
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