Monday, January 17, 2011

One Nation, Unity, One Day

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Some of our fellow Americans have the day off and have dedicated the day to service to their community and neighbors. Some of us are sleeping our hangovers away. Some of us are working. Whatever you find yourself doing today, it is important that you take a couple of minutes and reflect.

I am not too big on reflecting on people, per se- because people have their own little flaws, quips and crazy tendencies. Right? No one is perfect and most people don't deserve the pedestals that we assign to them. With that said- I am really big on movements. Times and places where people come together for the betterment of each other. Times when people from different backgrounds see an injustice being done to someone in a different group, class or station in life and find a way to fix it. Times where, during a morale vacuum, someone stands up and says "we aren't where we need to be, but I am committed to helping everyone get to the place that we are envisioning." That, I love. I love to see people working together.

I love to see barriers coming down, and people being honest. Before MLK was killed, our country wasn't being honest with itself. The truth was hurtful. People were being discriminated against and dying because they were seen as insignificant... non-essential, even. And now, almost 43 years after his death, the dream that he told us about in 1963 still has not come to fruition. How will it? Ah, a movement of our own. Putting aside our own selfish needs and working towards equality. Making sure that the basic needs of our community members are being met. It may not be that we are seeing dogs attacking Blacks in the streets of Chicago, marches in major cities, or people being killed for trying to vote. But what we are seeing is: people still being disenfranchised, being failed by our educational system, homelessness and hunger in the wealthiest nation in the world.  Let's be honest with ourselves. It will hurt, and we will not like the mess that we see... But if we never open our eyes and see the ills of our society, we can never hope to fix what ails us.

Reflection on the past, faith in each other and work- that is what we need... What will you provide?

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