I've been reflecting on many different things today - Amnesty International @UTK's first even Human Rights Week, President Obama official announcing his campaing for 2012, the Florida GOP wanting to ban the use of the word "uterus" on the House floor (I know, right?), labor unions and collective barganing rights, and most especially how the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr fits into all of those things.
Lately I've been struck by how similar our contemporary world is to the world of the 1960s and by how important it is for us to learn from the examples of the great men and women who came before us, struggling for equality and justice. I've said this many times, but there is still so much left to do. So much ground we have to cover in order to reach that glorious day when America really is what our ideology tells us she should be. It is important to remember that the persuasive public rhetoric is our rhetoric too - it does not belong soley to the closed-minded members of our society who hold a very narrow vision of the world and wish to push this vision onto all of us. We cannot let that happen.
Forty-three years ago today, at 6:01 PM on April 4, 1968 Dr. King was gunned down in Memphis, TN at the Lorraine Motel and pronounced dead at 7:05PM at St. Joseph's Hospital. While his life was ended, his light was anything but snuffed out. We carry it on, shining light into the darkest of places in our communities, our country, and our world, we commit ourselves to creating change and to being change. We stick with love and we dream dreams. And most importantly we stand in solidarity with each other - continuing to press onward. In his last speech, on April 3, 1968, while standing in soldiarity with the unions of Memphis Dr. King said:
Lately I've been struck by how similar our contemporary world is to the world of the 1960s and by how important it is for us to learn from the examples of the great men and women who came before us, struggling for equality and justice. I've said this many times, but there is still so much left to do. So much ground we have to cover in order to reach that glorious day when America really is what our ideology tells us she should be. It is important to remember that the persuasive public rhetoric is our rhetoric too - it does not belong soley to the closed-minded members of our society who hold a very narrow vision of the world and wish to push this vision onto all of us. We cannot let that happen.
Forty-three years ago today, at 6:01 PM on April 4, 1968 Dr. King was gunned down in Memphis, TN at the Lorraine Motel and pronounced dead at 7:05PM at St. Joseph's Hospital. While his life was ended, his light was anything but snuffed out. We carry it on, shining light into the darkest of places in our communities, our country, and our world, we commit ourselves to creating change and to being change. We stick with love and we dream dreams. And most importantly we stand in solidarity with each other - continuing to press onward. In his last speech, on April 3, 1968, while standing in soldiarity with the unions of Memphis Dr. King said:
"If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I say, we aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on."
So we are going on. I hope you will consider the world that Dr. King imagined for all of us, the world that we are capable of reaching. Please take a moment to look at the following actions - your voice is vital, don't be afraid to raise it now when it is needed most.
And if you are in the Knoxville area this week check out these fantastic events that Amnesty International @UTK has planned for you and are participating in! All are welcome!
Peace, Peeps.
Speak Up and Speak Out.
