Monday, April 07, 2008

  • WITHOUT MLK I COULD NEVER HAVE DREAMED

    Currently Reading
    April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death and How It Changed America
    By Michael Eric Dyson
    see related

     

    Thank You Dr. King, For Making Me Rich!

     

    Martin[1]

     

     

    I do not know what my life would have been like without Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.   The possibility, perhaps even probability, is I'd have gone to segregated schools, worked segregated jobs, done segregated things.   Dr. King was not the only person standing on the front lines fighting for basic human rights.   We call them civil rights, but for black Americans it was more about basic human rights; to be treated like a regular human being.   But it's Dr. King's "dream" of equality that has meant so much to me.   

    I don't have to wonder what my world would look like without the benefit of the Civil Rights movements of the 50's and 60's.   I would not have had the privilege of school friends, teachers, coworker, and bosses, because of the different colors of our skins.   My life is richer for the people who've been included in my life.   I am so glad I wasn't an adult in the 50's and 60's.  I can't remember a time when it was "us" and "them", and while I do acknowledge there are still people who hold to the "us" and "them" thinking (Hello Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Hello Jessie Jackson...REALITY CALLING), I've never experienced that kind of thinking to any real extent.   I will never forget the job I had where the boss made a racial slur at a black courier for UPS.  I was appalled, and I quit on the grounds that "I wouldn't work for such a racist asshole"  I said it, meant it, would do and say the same thing today.  Up until that point racism was the jokes stupid rednecks made.   My parents wouldn't let me have anything to do with stupid racist rednecks so they were the "alien" "second class citizen" types, to my way of thinking.  We had friends in school who were black, and they were as welcome in our home as any friends I had.   My parents always thought we chose good friends, and were happy to have good caliber people in their children's lives.   Color has never been an issue.  I do remember my parents telling us they didn't want us hanging out with "one of those" kids.   The kids in question were white, came from very affluent families, and were allowed, by their parents to do anything they wanted.  For my parents character was key, and privileged scumbags were still just scumbags.

    I am blessed beyond my ability to express.   Every area of my life has been effected by the caliber of people I've been able to associate with, and many of those people have been people of color.   I would not be the person I am without these people in my life.   So when I think of Dr. King I think of the great wealth of humanity he has helped me have.   What Dr. King has helped to give me is priceless.   I am a better person and Christian because of Dr. King. 

    Here some questions I'd like you to think about: 

    How has Dr. King's "dream" helped you?

    How is your life better today? 

    Who is in your life today that could not have been in your life back in the 50's and 60's because of skin color?

     

    THANK YOU SO MUCH DR. KING, AND TO ALL OF YOU WHO LAID YOUR LIVES ON THE LINE TO ENRICH ALL OF OUR LIVES!!

     

    Lonnie  

Comments (12)

  • EilisAngelos

    I'm not exactly certain how milk comes into all of this... but I love it. Thanks for the thought-provoking post, my friend.

  • HumbleWalk

    This is a GREAT post. All too often I hear how things are so much worse today than before. How quickly we forget the segregation issues of our country 100 FREAK'N YEARS after the Civil War!! How quickly we forget that women have only had the right to vote for 88 years!
    I loved what you said about who would NOT be in our lives if not for MLK.
    On a related aside, I've been reading some interesting things about the Millennial Generation (born roughly 1982 - 2010). It MAY be that they will actually be the first American generation who actually views one another as social equals with regard to race and gender.
  • Umnenga

    South Africa has its own MLK"s.  The sad thing is I will never be forgiven for apartheid.  I grew up the same as you - my dad was as liberal as you can get (not being South African to start off with).  It does not matter.  I objected in the ways I knew how.  It does not matter. My dad built schools to assist and they were burnt down in protest.  It does not matter and I am blamed for the current generations lack of education. I work for a non profit organisation for a wage that is not livable to help uplift previously disadvantaged communities.  It does not matter.  The irony is I am judged by the colour of my skin only and not by the content of my character.  This by a country that has only just recently been freed from that oppression.  The saddest thing of all - I am 35 - the first time I even got a chance to vote was in 1994 along with the rest of South Africa.  Me I am disillusioned and wish that MLK would give that speech again but that people of colour would hear it and realise that it is so easy to become what your enemies were.
  • WomanOfLight

    If it were not for MLK I would not have the things I take for granted today. I am not black, but not considered white, and I would have had to go to the segregated schools, segregated everything else. I cannot imagine what it would have been like growing up in those times and be feeling the kind of resentment that Rev Wright or Jackson felt toward the treatment they must have received. Just one generation later, having grown up in a much different climate, I can say that while I'm still judged on the color of skin, my experiences are a world away from those a generation or two before me. And yes, people, MLK had a lot to do with it. It doesn't do to forget who fought to make the world what it is today. 
  • Such_Were_You

    @squeakysoul -  While I do think we need to acknowledge the anger of people like Jessie Jackson and Rev. Wright, and what engendered that anger, there comes a time when it needs to be let go.   Dr. King said, "If we keep the law of "eye for an eye", everyone will be blind."   When anger, even righteous anger, is allowed to cloud one's vision there is no way to see the way clear to freedom.   Dr. King had it right, but there had to be times he felt the desire to strike back at his oppressors.   He never struck back, and it made all the difference in the world.   What we need to help people to understand is that if one of us isn't free then none of us are.   I am not free if you are not free right beside me.   There is and will always be tyranny, but when we do what Christ Himself did (and Dr. King did) then the power of freedom is there to set all of us free.  

    Remember racists need to be freed from their bondage to hatred, ignorance, and evil.

    Very good comment, thanks for your thoughts!

    Lonnie
  • Such_Were_You

    @Umnenga - Dr. King embodied what Christ taught.  What you experience in South Africa because of your skin color is terrible.   It goes to show that black South Africans are still not free.  They are held captive to the same horrible sins their white oppressors were held to...ignorance, hatred, and evil.  Keep seeking Christ as to how you should respond to the treatment you receive.   Seek Him daily for strength to live and deal with the oppression of tyranny.   What you must endure is no easy thing, but God has a way.  

    I certainly could not begin to tell you how to deal with your situation.  Your circumstance takes more knowledge and understanding than I have.   I just know that when I actively seek God over a long period of time, about any situation, He works that situation out.   Working it out doesn't mean it goes away, but God gives insight and ability to endure and move forward.

    Blessings,

    Lonnie
  • Such_Were_You

    @EilisAngelos - You are a nut!!
  • Such_Were_You

    @HumbleWalk - I do hope you are right.   Unfortunately, there will always be those who judge people based on the most stupid and shallow measurements.   Humans are just petty.

    Lonnie
  • EilisAngelos

    @Such_Were_You - Don't you just love me? And yes... I truly thought that it said "milk" at first. I'm silly like that. Actually, I've probably just got milk on the brain since I love it so much but haven't had much lately.

    I miss you.
  • wondering04

    Since we were all created by God, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

    Heather
  • WindOnReed2

    Good post on MLK!   He did great things.

    ...

    I just read a comment of yours on a different xanga, "The Bible, both Old and New Testaments are God's word."

    I'd like to invite you to my site because I think people have misled you about the Bible, . . . if you are willing to question what you've been told.

    http://www.geocities.com/investigatingchristianity/

    You can visit my xanga too, if you're interested.

    If not, best wishes.
  • Such_Were_You

    @wondering04 - That is true, but truth is something even Christians have difficulty understanding.   We have a tendency to "but" God.   When God says "love your enemies..." we say, "BUT God they're a different color", or "BUT Lord they have AIDS!!! or "BUT Lord you don't know what they've done!!"  When God said "love your enemies"  He knew exactly what He was saying and that He has all the BUTS covered.   God knows it's impossible for us to love, and that's why He sent us Jesus.  "With Jesus all things are possible".

    Lonnie 

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