Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I didn’t really get to reflect upon it until the end of my day, around 10 o’clock at night.
Believe it or not, this is a far cry from the routine I had when I was a child.
When I was a child, MLKJ Day meant that my father would put on his cassette tape of the “I Have a Dream” speech at breakfast. Even though it’s been years since I’ve heard it, and I can’t recall it verbatim, I can still hear Martin’s booming voice in my head when I stop and think about it.
As an adult, that recurring memory gives me great peace and joy.
Listening to Martin’s words as we ate our cereal or toaster waffles and reflected on the depth of the message.
And, though it kind of boggles my mind that nearly the entire day passed before I could reflect and give thanks to those Freedom Fighters who stood up against injustice so I can have my freedoms as a woman of color, I am very very grateful to be proud of my roots. I may be as snowy as the Montana winters but my paternal grandmother was silken dark chocolate.
I am very very grateful to have an understanding of how hard those people before us worked in order to give us the life we have now.
Martin Luther Ling Jr. Day is a day of remembrance. … these are all the things I remember on January 20th every year.
*I am free to love who I want based on the content of their character
*I am free to have the friends that I want based on the content of their character
*I am free to choose an employer based on the content of their character
So are my aunties, my uncles, my cousins… my mom, my dad, my sister. And my grandparents, and great-grandparents worked really hard for those rights.
So that now…
I can choose whatever seat I want on the bus.
I can go into the same diners as my husband.
I can drink from the same water fountains as my best friend.
I can go to the same schools as my best friend too.
That is what January 20th is all about.
So, Martin Luther King Jr. Day will forever remind me that we overcame a horrific segregation of “white” and “colored” people. And I hope it remains a reminder that love for all will always overcome hate and toxic mindsets.
E.
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