“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
(From 2018)
Posts for special days are important to me. They are the thoughts and feelings brought to mind about the day and what it means to me. This post is from another year, but the title quote is especially apt for the events now happening. I don’t think I could do better than have Martin Luther King write the post for today.
Today is Martin Luther King Day. These are excerpts from Martin Luther King’s speech delivered on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington.
“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.”
Explore posts in the same categories: Musings
January 18, 2021 at 12:39 pm
Just as relevant now as it was then.
Have a great day!
Christer.
January 18, 2021 at 12:48 pm
Christer,
Sadly, it does seem to get even more relevant every year. This has been the best and the worst of all years.
January 18, 2021 at 12:41 pm
Hi Kat,
I remember watching Dr. King make that speech on TV in 1963. After all these years and it’s still only a dream. 🙁
The events of the last four years of the Trump administration and his supporters not believing the facts, including that he lost the election, proves that you and I will probably not be around to see Dr. King’s dream realized. Sadly, racism, Zenobia, antisemitism and nationalism are all rolled up into one putrid philosophy which brought us Trumpism. He and his followers cast 45 millions votes for hatred and racism. The big fear of his voters is the rise of feminism, secularism and the browning of the American population. One of my former colleagues, who is a very conservative Catholic, told me that he wished he had had more children than his two sons. He knows that the people who don’t believe in the same things as he does are having larger families.
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/01/donald-trump-pussy-presidency/617699/
Today is cloudy but warm like yesterday with on and off rain forecast for the remainder of the week.
January 18, 2021 at 1:27 pm
Hi Bob,
That article was chilling. I will never understand the base of his women who are rabid fans. Come to think of it, I can’t imagine why anyone still supports him. We are a nation with many gullible or stupid people or both.
Brown people will become the majority. Good luck to the white supremacists when they face brown voters.
I don’t know any conservative Catholics. I don’t know that many who go to church anymore. There is no way I can see to reconcile Catholicism and Trumpism. They are antithetical to what I learned growing up.
Nice day today but a little chilly.
January 18, 2021 at 1:29 pm
The start of a new dawn.
I have never been a good sleeper and that pattern continues to worsen. I am up and moving at 5 am taking on routine tasks and generally getting the household started.
This morning, I thought I would try my luck first thing with the Ascension online Covid vaccines and POW, I have a reservation for Wednesday at 9;20 am. I promptly woke up Mrs MDH and she is set for 9:30. The sense of elation was overwhelming. If everything holds together, I should have full immunization by the end of February. So I am planning to get the shots, head home and watch the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
To piggy back on Bob’s comments. I have watched with some interest the adventures of Jenna Ryan, a self help talk show real estate broker from Plano Texas. Her actions in the sedition at the Capitol were self documented Somehow she now has a platform on the national stage as she bleats about wanting a presidential pardon. At the height of the entertainment, she got an invite to ride on a private plane to DC by a “cute guy”, thought she was gonna get laid and he picked someone else. Such is the way when you commit an act of treason.
The legacy of the trump administration is overwhelming. The right wing with their vile prejudices have been emboldened and legitimized by this fraud. Everything has an answer – “kids separated from families and put in cages”…..Obama dun it, Attack on the Capitol”….BLM dun it
And so the lies and deceit finally move from the blazing spotlight back in to the shadows of an old fat orange narcissist trying to communicate from Florida while civil suits fly and financial support is removed.
I am an optimist. Wednesday is the new dawn. An administration of integrity and a dance with Pfizer.
Oh and Eric Fisher and his Chiefs are rolling towards another Super Bowl.
January 18, 2021 at 3:03 pm
Obviously, your state and county are doing a better job with the vaccine distribution than mine. We applied for the vaccine on January 1 and haven’t gotten an appointment yet. Oh, you live in one of those, “miserable” according to Trumpsters, Democratic lead states. I live among the Jenna Ryans, the Larry Brocks and the people in my area who are still flying Trump 2020 flags in front of their homes.
I agree that beginning on Wednesday at noon we should all treat it as a new dawn. Unfortunately, Trumpism isn’t going away any time soon and the 45 million who voted for him still think he was somehow cheated out of a second term. They will not crawl back into their holes but be very vocal and active in blocking President Biden’s agenda.
January 18, 2021 at 3:32 pm
Actually 74 million voted for him, enough in any other than this election. Sorry, too bad. You are the loser!!
My state is also behind Florida. I keep checking, keep hoping for an update.
No, Trumplicans as Chris Cuomo calls them will be around until we can deny him any power at all.
January 18, 2021 at 3:28 pm
My Dear Hedley,
This state has yet to open for 65+. It still says 75+ on the web site. I keep checking and have signed for updates, but I am impatient. I want it started. I want the enrollment to begin. Until then, I am a bit of a hermit.
Jenna and I share only a last name. My Ryan family is quite small. These people they have identified as being in the capitol and/or attacking police need to be arrested for sedition, not trespassing. They are domestic terrorists.
I hope that as soon as the clock strikes 12:01 that arrests are set in motion from New York for one state. I want the rats to keep abandoning the ship so we find out more of his last days in the White House.
I do am an optimist.
I noticed the Chiefs and Eric’s score.
January 18, 2021 at 4:21 pm
Good Morning Kat,
Still sleep writing, but I do look forward to Biden/ Harris. Over 70 million people voted for “it”. What is wrong with these people? I won’t talk to anyone who still adores rump, I just don’t have the energy. You’ve chosen excellent songs.
Take Care,
Lori and Ms. Cookie
January 18, 2021 at 6:38 pm
Hi Lori,
I also look forward to the new administration. Trump appealed to the basest natures of some people and to the fears of others. He made them believe he was their salvation.
Thanks on the songs.
January 18, 2021 at 6:14 pm
Hooray, Hooray! Just got my notice for the first vaccine on Wednesday afternoon. We got a two hour window from one to three in the afternoon. 🙂
January 18, 2021 at 6:23 pm
I’m so glad for you!! Now you’re on your way!!
January 18, 2021 at 7:00 pm
Yes, what about you? Have you registered with your county health department?
January 18, 2021 at 8:15 pm
There is no vaccine registration for the vaccine yet for our age group in this county or this state.