Showing posts with label MLK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MLK. Show all posts
What is your earliest memory? How far back can you remember? Do you remember when you were a toddler? a baby? in the womb? What things have stayed with you?

I have many snippets of memories from my babyhood, but since I wasn't adept yet on using the calendar, I'm not sure which was the earliest. I do remember the day that Martin Luther King was murdered. We lived in house off of Missouri Avenue in Northwest Washington. I remember that morning. I remember the hardwood floors and the bedroom furniture in my parents' room. I remember the black and white television and I remember my mother crying and when I asked her what was wrong, I remember her going into the adjacent bathroom, getting tissue, wiping and face and saying, "THEY killed Martin Luther King." I had no idea who that was, but I started to cry too. If I live to be 100, I'll never forget that clip of time.

What do you remember? Tell me about it.

Your comments--priceless!!


One morning in 1968, I woke up to find my mother crying. She was standing in front of the television. She turned to me and simply said, "They killed Martin Luther King." I'll never forget those words, even though I had no idea who "they"were or even who Martin Luther King was. I was 4 years old. I just remember how sad she was, so I cried too.

This is my earliest memory of MLK. It would be years before I discovered his contributions to the world. While his name is synonymous with "race relations," I think his greatest wish was simply for "peace."

You would be hard pressed to find anyone who would publicly say, "I don't agree with MLK or his thoughts." Everyone is on board with MLK and his teachings. Except. Except?

Except it's been less than 10 years that all 50 states have celebrated a federal holiday in his honor, even though the bill was signed in 1983.

Except the planned Martin Luther King Memorial on the Mall, near the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial, keeps running into obstacles.

Except the King Center in Atlanta has fallen into a state of disarray and disrepair.

Except every Martin Luther King Street, Avenue, or Boulevard that I've ever been on in any city in America, looks war-torn.

Is this how we honor someone who made great strides worldwide? Is this how we hold someone in high public esteem? Something just doesn't seem right...

Your comments--priceless!

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