Martin Luther King Day is Monday

[Charon]

[Rafterman]

Thank you, Charon. Allow me to share a quick MLK story. I was born in Brooklyn, but raised in Newark, New Jersey. It was June of 1964 when MLK came to Newark to give a speech on the corners of Park Avenue and High Street. Newark was a hotbed of racial tension at the time. My mother and father, although White, were civil rights workers. Living in Newark as White civil rights workers meant that you were risking your life on a daily basis. They brought my sister and I to the MLK rally. We were just children at the time. Even at that young age I could sense that he was a calming force. He was not there to stir things up. He preached non-violence, self-reflection and self-reliance, all in equal measure. That very street that he was standing on, High Street, became Martin Luther King Boulevard a few years hence and it remains so to this day. A small but fitting tribute to a great and charismatic visionary who was not afraid to put his own life on the line for the principles in which he believed.  

[Blockhead59]

Thanks, Charon and Rafterman, for sharing MLK's speech. And Rafterman thanks for sharing such a wonderful memory your parents gave you. Even if you don't remember it completely, as you know, your body remembers the calm as you say. Lucky you!

[masterthief]

Eliminate ALL forms of racism and sexism.  MLK  day forever!

I think there was a bit of talk in the USA of making some federal holidays go by the wayside.  Think this might have been one of them.  Glad it wasn't or glad I'm wrong in that it might not have even been talked about eliminating.