Martin Luther King Day...

[OneTampa]

Our Work Continues For Equality...

[Jeff G]

Dr King is my hero and I admired him so much and read anything I could get about him as a kid and as an adult.

I did a book report once on Dr King when I was a kid in school in Birmingham Al. I worked very hard on it because I was doing it for extra credit. The teacher gave me a D on it and when I asked why she told me it was not a proper subject for me to be writing about and wanted to know if my parents knew I wrote it. Long story short here … my dad paid a visit to the school and I got my A.

We only had a few weeks of school left that year for me to endure that horrible teacher but the truth is she did teach me a very valuable lesson … After this happened I fundamentally understood that book and that book report I wrote in a whole different way and it made the principles and ideas of Dr King come alive for me.

[Wade]

There will always be work to be done as long as there is hatred and bigotry .
I grew up in New Jersey and watched the Civil Rights movement
unfold before my eyes on TV in the 60s . I remember watching the march on Washington and listening to his powerful speech , I was awe struck even as a kid.

He paved the way for the Country we live in today , but still in many places there is much to be done.

[OneTampa]

Dr King is my hero and I admired him so much and read anything I could get about him as a kid and as an adult.

I did a book report once on Dr King when I was a kid in school in Birmingham Al. I worked very hard on it because I was doing it for extra credit. The teacher gave me a D on it and when I asked why she told me it was not a proper subject for me to be writing about and wanted to know if my parents knew I wrote it. Long story short here … my dad paid a visit to the school and I got my A.

We only had a few weeks of school left that year for me to endure that horrible teacher but the truth is she did teach me a very valuable lesson … After this happened I fundamentally understood that book and that book report I wrote in a whole different way and it made the principles and ideas of Dr King come alive for me.

Jeff,

I truly appreciate your wonderful post. 

Good to know the influence of Martin Luther King, Jr. on you from a child to now.

Thank you!

OT

[OneTampa]

There will always be work to be done as long as there is hatred and bigotry .
I grew up in New Jersey and watched the Civil Rights movement
unfold before my eyes on TV in the 60s . I remember watching the march on Washington and listening to his powerful speech , I was awe struck even as a kid.

He paved the way for the Country we live in today , but still in many places there is much to be done.

Wade,

So true.

OT

[Jeff G]

Jeff,

I truly appreciate your wonderful post. 

Good to know the influence of Martin Luther King, Jr. on you from a child to now.

Thank you!

OT

It had a huge impact on me. I was a child then so up until that moment I thought those wonderful books about Dr King was a story about how good people fought and made things right, in my child’s mind I thought it was over and the good guys won. The incident opened my eyes to the reality that is was just the beginning.

I have just recently moved out of my home state of Alabama, I had moved back there about 15 years ago from California and one of the major reasons I had to leave is my inability to live side by side with people who refuse to embrace change. I was becoming an angry and combative man so I packed my things and moved on to something more positive. My bestie Betty can tell you about my rants to her on living in Bama … she had a dose of it herself having lived there and still having family there herself.

[BT65]

It's true, Jeff had had enough of Alabama. And who can blame him?  I don't know how he put it with it for as long as he did.  And when I talked to him yesterday he sounded much happier and I couldn't be happier for him.

At the last AMG gathering, in Memphis, a group of us went to the Civil Rights Museum.  It was very eye opening and maddening. Seeing the room Dr. King stayed in the night before he was assassinated was humbling.  Seeing the balcony where he was shot was like a very quiet, thoughtful moment.  I'm so thankful I had that experience.

The North is much more accepting than the South.  But there are still bigots.  I stay far away from them.  I'm hoping the next president is Democrat or I fear we will go back 50 years.  Let's hope that's not the case.

Betty