Sunday, January 17, 2010

Free at last, Free at last.....

Thank God almighty, we are free at last!

Head and shoulders of a black man in a dark suit leaning on a lecturn, with his hands grasping the lecturn's top. Light comes from above and leaves the lower half of his round face in deep shadow. His hair is closely cropped and he has a pencil-thin mustache. He looks up over the reader's right shoulder, his full lips barely open, as if thinking what his next words will be.

My kids came home from school on Friday, excited for the 3-day weekend. When I asked them if they knew WHY we were blessed with an extra day to sleep in, I was surprised to hear them respond with not only that it was Martin Luther King day, but with the reason why we celebrate this man.

Riley, my precocious 9 yr old, proudly stood straight, with shoulders back and told me that this was the man who fought for freedom for black people. "James Earl Ray shot and killed him. And he won a Nobel Prize. He was very important!"

Rachel, my sprightly 7 yr old, piped in and said "ya, and he's the guy, who said 'free at last, free at last, thank you God, we are free at last!' And that means that black people don't have to be afraid anymore!"

Impressed and in shock, I just hugged my girls and praised them for what they had to say about Martin Luther King! Riley asked me why good people have to die, and I told her that sometimes people aren't ready to change...that they are afraid of what the change might mean. So they set out to destroy, anyone who makes them feel uncomfortable.

Wise way beyond her years, Riley responds, "Well, someone needs to change that!" Yes indeed, this kind of thing needs to stop, but sadly, it never will. There will ALWAYS be someone, somewhere who disagrees with change...with progress, but should never ever stop us from pushing forward.

Continue to fight for what you believe in! Fight for change! Leave your legacy behind!



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