Keep Dreamin'

[captainsblog]

Mostly quiet (early), mostly snowy (late) day today. I did punch in and got a bunch of stuff out in the relative quietude while it lasted.  I was very aware of the events of the day, though-the second inauguration of our first multiracial President, and the recognition of the birth and premature death of the man who dreamed of that day, today and four years and a day ago today:



Yet so much still remains to be accomplished of That Dream Wot He Had, lo these 50 years later.  We still have a significant population of Angry White Men who resort to their privileges, their stereotypes, and, in recent days, their guns to keep the scary black men away from their white picket fences and white sheets.

Our pastoral assistant preached yesterday, and ended her sermon with a shoutout to MLK. Understandable, since his divinity school long ago merged into her Rochester-based one.  Corey's take on the man was that, when he got assigned his first pulpit during his PhD candidacy, he expected it to be a quiet and non-controversial one in a backwater town, Montgomery, Alabama- perfect for finishing his dissertation in peace. 

Then God came along and introduced him to Rosa Parks, and those plans got majorly waylaid.

To this day, (mostly) angry (mostly) white (mostly) men still resent the holiday that honors him, continuing to brand him as a Communist and noting the sad irony that most cities' streets named for him are among the most dangerous in their venues.  But the aptest reference to today's honoree came from this quote this morning on Artvoice- a perfect counterpoint to the angry gun nuts (and butts) of the weekend honoring his memory:

Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

And everyone said.... Amen.

Comments

[bill_sheehan.livejournal.com]

Who wrote the Psalms? Tradition says King David, but any modern Bible scholar can prove that wrong. It doesn't matter - the words live on.

If Martin Luther King were a serial adulterer, would it change a single word in his speeches? It doesn't matter. The man has been dead for decades. It is his words that live on.

Whatever else President Obama might do in the next four years, he gave his Second Inaugural Address today. And glory, what a speech it was. The words will live on.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

What a marvelous quote. Thank you for sharing.