Martin Luther King

It is a sad day when the NAACP and others feel like their only day is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is sad when superintendents of schools are getting screamed at for making a make up day on Martin Luther King Holiday being told that this is their day, their only day. Did people who have lost loved ones to war scream when Memorial Day was taken a couple years ago? I get so tired of this...so tired of how people feel they are owed this day, not to mention the entire month of February. I think, honestly, MLK would be rolling over in his grave to hear others say things like this is our day, our only day. We have a black president (well sorta). I think America has come a long way. That would never have happened. Wasn't a couple years ago on Election day also your day? Anyway...

The fact of the matter is, black history should not be tied down to one day. It should not be tied down to one entire month because there are stories about blacks in history all year. Black history is an integral part of this country. The most worrisome part about this, though, is that these people who feel this is their only day, don't even know the truth of their own history. They think Jay Z, P Diddy, etc are good examples of black history. I will never forget walking into a school I was doing work in during the month of February and seeing a school bulletin board that had in die cut letters across the top: Black History Heroes. Around the bulletin board were pictures of Jay Z, Oprah, P Diddy and other rappers. I thought to myself, "This is what they consider black history?" I can almost understand Oprah. I don't agree with her most of the time, but I can understand and do believe that she will serve as someone very influential for black Americans. But none of those were part of our history, what have the others mentioned really done for our society but sing crappy songs with cursing that are about girls, sex, drugs, gangs, and violence?

The truth of the matter, like I said earlier, is there are so many black people in history who made positive, influential marks on this country. They paved paths for all of us. I would like to remark on just a few of them.




Well, we all know about Martin Luther King and what he wanted for this country. Freedom and equality. Dr. King fought long and hard. He fought for freedom. He fought for whites to treat blacks equally and he fought for blacks to treat whites equally. The table turns both ways. He wanted nonviolence. Would he be proud of some the rap songs that are sung? The answer to that...probably not. He was a very spiritual man. He prayed often and he prayed hard. He tried to do the right thing, never knowing if it was the right thing, but because he trusted in God he felt the cause he was working towards was right. However, even with his constant faith in God, he was losing courage. He felt weak. MLK was a hard man to beat...he was tough. When people couldn't bring him down they would attack his entire family. Bombs were placed at his front porch, stabbing him in a department store, he got in trouble for everything (trespassing, obstructing a sidewalk, holding a parade without having a permit to do so, driving 5 miles over the speed limit, among other things that seem so trivial. When they realized he was not going to come down easily, they would attack his friends, like Medger Evers who was killed in his own driveway. But MLK never gave up. The boycott started by Rosa Parks which was only to last one day ended up lasting over a year. The constitution finally ruled for segregated buses to be unconstitutional. His march on Washington on August 28, 1963 brought over 250,000 listeners. He tried to teach his followers that victory was only won through peaceful, nonviolent meetings. One of my favorite speeches MLK made was on April 3 in Memphis. He made a speech about how important being non violent is and he ended it this way: "Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." Sadly, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed the next evening at 6:01 coming out of his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee.



Another person I want to talk about is Ruby Bridges. This is one of my favorite because of my job. I work with first and second graders as their teacher. I cannot imagine any one of them having to go through what this brave little girl had to go through. I would never want it for any of them and am so thankful we are past all of this. Can you imagine being 6 years old and having to walk into a school with white federal marshals you do not know, going into a place you have never been, with white grown adults yelling and screaming at you, tossing threats at you? Can you imagine that? Furthermore, can you imagine doing that at 6 years old all alone? Ruby Bridges was such a brave little girl. She loved God, prayed to him often, prayed to him about her enemies and listened to everything her momma told her. Ruby Bridges integrated William T. Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. There were to be other schools integrated, but the parents of those black children did not want them to go through all of the pain they would have to deal with. Not the Bridges family. They told Ruby this had to be done, that it was important for her and all black people. So Ruby toughed the crowds. She even stood in their midst and prayed for them. Her teacher, who was white, loved and cared for her and Ruby loved and cared for her back. Because of Ruby I can have children of color in my class. Thank you Ruby!



Rosa Parks...the woman who refused to back down. The woman who wanted freedom desperately and knew she deserved it just as much as any white person. Rosa is famous for her refusal to get out of a seat that a white man needed because she was tired and her feet hurt and she had simply had enough! Because of Rosa, people stopped riding the bus. The boycotted it. This boycott was really only suppose to go on for a day. However, the bus boycott lasted for more than a year. Finally, congress deemed segregation on buses unconstitutional.



Sojourner Truth...well that was not her real name. Her real name was Isabella Baumfree. Later in life she asked God to give her a new name and He spoke these two words to her: Sojourner (which means wanderer) because she was to travel all around to convey the peoples sins to them and be a sign of the Lord to them and Truth because she was to tell the people the truth about the Lord. Sojourner worked for women's rights. She gave speeches about how woman are worth just as much as a man. Her famous speech was called Ain't I a woman. She taught domestic skills, visited hospitals, gave out supplies to freed slaves. She was a close friend of Frederick Douglas who was an abolitionist and a chief speaker of the time. As Douglas was giving a speech about how they have no hope unless it comes down to blood, Sojourner asked, "Frederick, is God dead?" Enough said. If we believe in God then there is always hope. A hope we can't even fathom. She was able to speak when God's words and hope were needed most...it was a gift the Almighty gave her.
Because of her simple question "Frederick, is God dead?" I have that to reflect on and ask myself when all hope seems lost.

So, there are a few (and that is just a few) examples of black history. But the one thing we must always remember is that history is really HIS-story. God's story and how He used so many (black and white) to spread His word, rely on Him, and be like Him. These are things we need to reflect on not just on January 17th, or the month of February or July 4th or May 31st. These are things we need to reflect on all year, every day, so we can use them to make this messed up world a better place.

AIN'T I A WOMAN?

by Sojourner Truth


Delivered 1851 at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.