Today is Martin Luther King Day. There is always a lot of programming devoted to honoring his memory and of course there is a lot of repetitiveness. Sometimes I start to feel annoyed that I am missing my regular programming, and then I start to listen. And I am always drawn in by his charismatic style, and I inevitably begin to feel energized when I hear the I Have a Dream speech.
It’s good to remember the efforts of all of those who carried on the movement after his assassination; to hear the inspiring speeches of Jesse Jackson and Barbara Jordan, among others. It’s good to remember all the energy surrounding the movement and to remember that so much really was accomplished. Not only as a direct result of King’s vision, but also as a result of many people great and small, hearing the message and taking up the banner for social justice and peace. It’s good to remember when I was young and my friends and I were also out there marching for equality and for peace and justice.
For we can never be reminded too often about this country’s long history of marginalizing others and of the difficult and ongoing struggle to right these wrongs of discrimination because of color, gender or sexual orientation.
So, I listen to the memorials and speeches and I stop being annoyed that I am missing my usual programming and I can just be an old idealist with hope that someday we will all really hear Kings message, and that one day we will finally learn to treat all people with the respect they deserve.