Monday, January 21, 2008

Thanks Dr. King!

brown vs brown
Happy MLK Day! Today, my husband and daughter and I went to the Levine Museum of the New South to view the exhibit Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers, which was an excellent depiction of how the Charlotte area has grown since the 1800's from slavery to it's present. First I must say, it was an excellent exhibit and if you haven't seen it you should take a break from your wedding planning and get on down there. But anyway, I showed my two and half year old Ronni the picture of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and she asks "what him do"? : ) I told her, he taught people to be nice to each other. Simply put, but that's what he did. I've spent the day just thinking, what if there wasn't a Dr. King or the like? How would our lives be different. Well, here's a short list I quickly came up with:
  • More than likely I wouldn't live where I live, in a multi-racial neighborhood that I love
  • My husband would probably not have the job he has now
  • My daughter probably wouldn't be welcomed in the preschool I just enrolled her in for the fall
  • Chances are you probably wouldn't be able to date the person you're dating now comfortably if you're in a multi-racial relationship and you wouldn't be able to marry them
  • I wouldn't be able to cast my vote for the upcoming election
No matter what your political affiliation, you have to admit that there would be no Barack Obama, if sacrifices had not been made by Dr. King and his colleagues. I am sincerely thankful for those who participated in the Civil Rights movement. This is coming from someone who actually cried when I voted for the first time. Having understood at that moment (18 years old) how many people died for me a young black girl to have the right to vote, it overwhelmed me. I'm sincerely thankful to those who have paved the way to make my life what it is today and I'm grateful to those who continue to live each day treating people as people, fairly and equally and not judging them based on the color of their skin.

Photo: Teaching American History in Maryland, Brown vs. The Board of Education

4 comments:

rebekah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rebekah said...

It is good to look back and see how far we've come. But also sad to see how far we have to go.

Erin & Gary said...

Great post. Thanks for the personal touch on such an important day. Very well written.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this post. Yes, we have a long way to go, but I am extremely grateful for the distance that we have come.
I was just thinking yesterday afternoon that 95% of my clients don't even look like me. They hired me because of my wedding planning skills and not because of the color of my skin. This would not have happened without the work of Dr. King and so many others.

Again, thank you. Love & Soul Always, Kay