It’s happening. The day many of us have been dreading. Many have written about the fact that the inauguration is happening on the day we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s like Opposite Day. Like the game played by children where everything means the opposite only this a day for adults, and instead of being a day of make-believe fun it is a day of nightmarish reality.
My first encounter with Martin Luther King, Jr. came by way of his famous “I have a dream” speech that I was taught in my small rural all white farming community elementary school. As a middle-class white kid, I was captivated by Dr. King and what he stood for. My favorite 5th grade book was, “Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry,” by Mildred Taylor. Since elementary I have “grown up” my understanding of Dr. King and opened myself up to Malcom X and other who dedicated their lives to the freedom of people of color. I have also tried to be sensitive to and understand the privilege that comes with my heritage.
Always a lover of good writing. I gravitate to those authors who can turn abstract ideas into concrete words on a page. Who through intellectual writing and firm command of the language can capture deeper truths. Dr. king was one of those writers. He had the ability, often using simple words skillfully strung together to create a depth that required further pondering. I have a book of his sermons entitled, “Strength to Love.” In his sermon “What is Man” he wrote:
Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions and to choose between alternatives. He is distinguished from animals by his freedom to do evil or to do good and to walk the high road of beauty or tread the low road of ugly degeneracy.
The use of man to indicate the human race in this quote can feel a bit archaic today to our 21st century ears but here what I think he is saying. Freedom is choice, and choice is what sets us apart from animals. To be human is to be free. And yet the man who is being sworn as our 47th president seems little interested in freedom. Especially the freedoms of those who cannot fill his ego or his bank account.
Again, opposite day. A day to celebrate one of greatest voices of freedom who ever lived and swear in as our 47th president a man who poses the greatest threat to our collective freedom.
Kurt and I visited Atlanta for our anniversary in 2010. We were not able to tour Ebenezer church due to it being renovated but we saw the museum and Dr. King’s memorial, I bought a magnet I still have on my refrigerator, although faded now.
It says, “REMEMBER! CELEBRATE! ACT! A DAY ON…NOT A DAY OFF.”
I attended our community’s celebration of Jubilee Day put on by our local chapter of the NAACP. The theme was “Faith in Action.” It was in remembrance of the day Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and also a day to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In my small way I wanted to let my neighbors of color know that I was there in support of the work they are doing in our community. I was not acknowledged with all the area dignitaries. I sat in the back by myself. I sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” along with the voices of a people who have experienced generations of injustice. My privilege has mostly shielded me from such overt inequality. It feels less safe now, my security, replaced by the knowledge that I have fewer rights than I did when I was young. Still, I sang, I sang for freedom, I sang for justice, I sang for my neighbors, and I sang for myself.
That seems right for this opposite day. “A Day On,” “Faith in Action”. Do you know what the opposite of opposite is? It is similar, neighboring, allied, unified, united, and aligned. Let’s be that today.
Amen! So very well written! ❤️