Bending Toward Justice

Tomorrow is a national holiday to honor the life, work and accomplishments, and teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr., who is one of just a handful of people I call a hero of mine.

I have been working since the 1980's, so since before there was a federal holiday honoring Dr. King. In all these years, decades, of my working life, which include all the years that have had a federal holiday for MLK, I have never worked for one organization that gave that day off as a company holiday. To me, that is but one small sign, among many, many signs, small and huge, that we still have much work to do, re bringing to reality the totality of MLK's dream. No, he didn't dream of a day to honor him, but of a country that lived by his (which are really our, as a nation's, highest) ideals. And such a country, in my opinion, would have more workplaces that actually closed manana to honor him. Anyway:

Tomorrow is the first MLK Day that I happen to be taking the day off. I have a dentist appointment early in the a.m., and I hope to be done in time to make it to meet up with members of my church, who will be departing from my church to head over to the city's MLK Day Parade! I've never gone to one before. It's about time.

Martin, America is in dire trouble right now. So many of us, though, so many of us who were the black children and white children you spoke about in your "I Have a Dream" speech at the time, are carrying on your work and trying to make the dream come all the way true. Much has happened that you dreamed of, maybe even some that you didn't even think possible, yet so much more is still yet to heal, yet to get to that mountaintop. But tomorrow, those black children and white children, all grown up now, will indeed join hands as you dreamed for us in 1963, when we were just babies, and we will commit ourselves anew to fighting for justice for all, and we will sing together, with the children of today, let freedom ring.