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The Queen's Chair: The Day After The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday (699 hits)

Now what? I watched coverage on my TV set yesterday. I saw choirs singing, people walking, speakers spreading their interpretation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's words and work. On Facebook friends posted speeches, videos and one showed a video clip of Dr. King telling a joke on the Mike Douglas show. I discovered Dr. King had a great sense of humor.

I thought to myself: OK. Everyone is talking about Dr. King's legacy on his day. How many of us could do what he did? Has anything really change? Or are we just making the same mistakes, again? What are teaching our kids and younger generations? Do they know how long it took us to get his birthday turned into a national holiday? Many of them have no idea about our racial past.

CNN reported that 79% of Americans were going to celebrate the King holiday this year. There are still places that don't celebrate it. Many use the holiday to host sales. Some just consider it a day off from work. My girlfriend was upset because her daughter had a track meet that day. The coaches and schools never even considered that some families may object to it. I know when my kids had a lacrosse practice on Good Friday, I threw a royal fit. Eventually it was canceled because other parents expressed their outrage.

I still see this as a day of reflection. I did. I read some of his works and found other materials on line. Some people blame God for our racial problems citing that he created our universe. I watched Oprah's Dr. King Show and something she said still sticks with me. God created human beings. Human beings created racism. If we want to change our world: we have to do better.

Posted By: Marsha Jones
Tuesday, January 18th 2011 at 12:37PM
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Sister Marsha,
In an attempt to answer your quesiton, "Has anything really changed?" I'd say yes why of course! Certainly with the election of the first African American President one can see that this is due to the efforts of Dr. King's and other unsung heroes' efforts back in the day and presently like Tavis Smiley.

It is true that there is more that we can do to make things better as Oprah stated, but it takes each one teaching one as Brother Mozell says often. I've looked over the issue of progress for minorities in this country and I've concluded that although there are still obstacles, I've found the greatest of these obstables are Us. ... we hold ourselves back by our negative attitude and our attitudes of apathy. At least, that is what I have discovered.
Tuesday, January 18th 2011 at 1:33PM
Jen Fad

@ Jen,
You aren't the only one who has witnessed this. I think we are our own worst enemy. We blame everyone else for our problems and sometimes we use the past as a convenient excuse. I know things have changed; Obama being our President is still a great defining moment for me. I'm just hoping things will change even more so I don't have to worry about my children being stopped by cops for driving while black.e
Tuesday, January 18th 2011 at 1:50PM
Marsha Jones

I do understand you regarding worry over cops and the brutality. We have to teach our male relatives how to be street wise and pass on the knowledge of how to stay alive when stopped or questioned by the police. Tip one , always put hands where the police can see them at all times. Tip two, Be respectful and courteous. Tip three, Don't speak unless spoken to, ect. Tip four, Say thank you, yes sir, no sir. Things like this will keep our brothers, sons, and uncles alive but many times our people have an attitude because the police must be stopping or pulling us over because I'm Black. That mentality will get people shot or beat down quick. I know Racism happens, but we must not react but use wisdom and if we don't have it---ask for it.

Tuesday, January 18th 2011 at 6:59PM
Jen Fad

@ Brother Clark,
I'd be for organizing a march on the Mall against police brutality and jobs. Police brutality is not just a concern to the Black community, but for many minority people and the jobless situation cuts across all color lines. What does it take to organize a march on the Mall?
Wednesday, January 19th 2011 at 10:05AM
Jen Fad

Is that all? With the internet (utube, myspace, facebook, twitter) that would be so easy.
Saturday, January 22nd 2011 at 10:44AM
Jen Fad