Tried to spend most of the day not glued to the computer or social media… it’s a rare weekday not working… I indulged some time this afternoon catching up and of course reading the many posts celebrating Dr. King’s life… mostly posting snippets of speeches some with pictures some without, a few tying together Billy Graham or JFK with Dr. King’s work.

I can’t say i have a favorite necessarily, but if you haven’t actually taken the time to move past the overused quotes and listen to a full recording of one of his speeches make the time you’ll be better for it. It’s not just what he is saying but how he says it… a true orator he leverages his whole being to infuse purpose and power into his words.

I was born in 1965 and can’t claim to have any first hand experience of those tumultuous times and other than a brief period of months in SC as a teenager it would be disingenuous to claim any real understanding of systemic racism and oppression. My very dear friend Steve Coleman has described it as a “burning in his bones, something that is inescapable and never goes away…” He attributes this to a speech Mr. George Williams gave at the African American Student Association in 1987.

I guess that description has stuck with me, and It’s something I try to remind myself of as often as possible, today of course was easier than most. But i wonder as we move past this evening and into our work week, back to the pandemic, the politics of a new administration, all the other every day distractions we all face… if we are so fortunate as to not have a “burning in our bones” to not face the daily reminders of our race… will we remember to remember?

I hope so, and in doing so in our own way bring some small honor to the legacy of Dr. King…