Just heard Mrs. Ralph Abernathy being interviewed. She’s the widow of the man who apparently brought Martin Luther King, Jr. into the Civil Rights Movement. She was asked what she thought about the likelihood of young people, today, being galvanized to both sacrifice and participate, in these modern times, as so many young people, mostly black but a wonderful number of white and other youths, too, sacrificed (risked their lives) and participated during the late 50’s but especially the 60’s.
She responded that she thought that many young people don’t understand the terrific need that still exists (to ensure that fairness and justice for all actually becomes a reality as opposed to the fantasy it still represents for way too many) for
young people to become involved, to participate. She did say, though, that she believed that when and if the young people of today were made to realize how much their individual contributions were still needed, that yes, she was sure that they would step up. Of course, that’s what our President-elect has been trying to convey – that there’s so much work to do, that’s left to be done and that it’s going to take the whole village of us to raise and nurture our still youthful democracy. And you, in other countries, too, to cultivate and protect your own democracies or your hopes for one.
But what really got me wanting to post, again, about all this was her mentioning that her husband was 29 and that King, himself, was only 26 when they started the “Movement.”
Only 26. The story of those times, the almost unimaginable bravery and determination exemplified by so many so-called unsung heroes, including a phenomenal number of youths and even children, is so awe-inspiring, so, sometimes, wrenching, truly wrenching, that it’s small wonder that our President-elect, as he became aware of their story, cut short the somewhat aimless wandering and identity-crisis of his own youth and determined to use his life and abilities in service of others “
in the fierce urgency of now .”
If any of you wouldn’t mind having a bit more inspiration for your own lives or something with which you could engender some of that inspiration in others, I’ve got a couple of favorite books that I think would do the trick for you. I already mentioned both, quite awhile ago, in the Book thread. But they both are so amazing, so filled with lessons and inspiration for (
I think ) anyone, I have no compunction about pushing ‘em, once again. It should go without saying that though their stories deal, specifically, with the struggle for civil rights, ostensibly, for black people, that struggle and the models it might represent for us, of course, generalizes out to any and every struggle for equity and decency for any group of people.
Letters from Mississippi: Reports from Civil Rights Volunteers and Freedom School Poetry of the 1964 Freedom Summer http://www.crmvet.org/anc/letterms.htm I’d apologize for getting so carried away about all this with you but
1) This stuff/The Possibilities of Today just
fill me and
2) I don’t feel sorry at all.
Anyway, talking about this stuff is a pleasing alternative (for me) to ragging on Kiva, which is not to suggest that there aren’t some probably very legitimate reasons for the temptation to do so .EDIT : They showed the entire 17 minute
"I Have a Dream" speech on TV earlier this morning. I'm not sure I'd ever heard it all, or, if I did, I wasn't nearly so ready to hear and feel it as I was capable of hearing and feeling it, today. It's so much more than those several lines that justabout everybody thinks of when they think of that speech.
SO MUCH MORE . If you want to hear eloquence, real "chosen person" eloquence, check it out. And sure, go ahead and substitute Palestinian, Native American, Gay-Lesbian, whatever you want for his use of "negro" if it will help you experience the timeless quality and truth of it.
