2010 in Summation

By all accounts, 2010 was a great year.

Nobody close to me died (which is a hell of a lot more than I could say for 2009, wherein I lost both my grandmothers in a 6 month period).

I went to Africa, and that and everything that has happened since then has been absolutely amazing.

I have been healthy. I haven’t had even ONE seizure since December of last year.

I got engaged.

I made new friends.

I reconnected with old friends.

Jack joined the family.

I had the opportunity to travel several times this year, twice out of the country.

My business has been busy, but not overwhelmingly so.

My niece was born.

 

So many great things have happened this year, and I couldn’t be more thankful for them. I’m also thankful to all my friends and family and my readers. You help make it all possible.

Thank you all so so much.

Martin Luther King Jr. — The Late Years

(RE: The Martin Luther King Jr. Experience [previous post] )

 

Born in 1929, The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is most famously known for his non-violent work during the Civil Rights Movement between 1954 and 1965. Most often overlooked are the two years prior to Dr. King’s assassination, 1966 through 1968. During this time he faced a new set of struggles and underwent changes that often go unrecognized.

Most well known for his non-violent approach to civil rights, it is often overlooked that people began opposing his tactics. Many of King’s younger followers accused him of being too careful. Some even believed he was in cahoots with the federal and local authorities. As time went on, King began being criticized more frequently and by an ever-growing number of people.

The younger and more radical “black-power” fanatics sought immediate change by means of confrontation. King, on the other hand, sought patience, middle class respectability, and a measured approach to social change. When Malcolm X came on the scene in the later years of King’s life, he called King’s tactics “criminal.” He stated, “Concerning nonviolence, it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.” (Biography.com)

To counteract the criticisms he was facing, King decided to take on other issues beyond racism. On April 4, 1967 at the Riverside Church in New York City, King dedicated himself to the opposition of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. He delivered a speech entitled “Beyond Vietnam,” in which he strongly opposed U.S. involvement in Vietnam. In the speech, he said,

“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” (King, Jr.).

This quote clearly illustrates his values during the last few years of his life. It is a theme that can be seen throughout his lesser-known works. He believed that it was necessary to change the economics of the country. “[T]rue compassion is more than throwing a coin to a beggar, but to see an edifice which produces beggars needs a restructuring… From Vietnam to South Africa through Latin America, the United States is on the wrong side of the world revolution, (King, Jr.)

In response to this speech, The Washington Post printed, King “has diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, and his people,” (AssociatedContent). Many Americans saw King’s speech as slander towards the American government (which is understandable given the harsh criticisms in the speech).

Centered around the same principles that King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech outlined, he and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) launched the Poor People’s Campaign in 1967. The goal of this campaign was to bring to the forefront the economic injustices people in America faced. The campaign included all poor people in America, not just the poor blacks in America. King referred to the campaign as the “second phase” of the Civil Rights movement.

The aim of the campaign was to rebuild American cities. King and the SCLC wanted an Economic Bill of Rights to be passed by congress. Under this Bill, Government would make helping the poor a priority by creating an “antipoverty” package that would give the poor guaranteed housing and an annual income. They claimed that Congress had previously “demonstrated its hostility to the poor  – appropriating military funds with alacrity and generosity, but providing poverty funds with miserliness,” (Poorpeoplescampaignppc.org).

Still, King had other endeavors not often heard of. In February of 1968, two black sanitation workers were crushed to death due to an accident that involved an involuntary triggering of the crushing mechanism in the garbage truck. That very same day, 22 black sewage workers were sent home without pay due to severe weather. Their white superiors stayed the rest of the day and received pay. Later, about 1,100 black sanitation workers went on strike for job safety, fair wages and benefits, and union recognition.

Though King was involved in organizing The Poor People’s Campaign at the time, he agreed to support their cause. He spoke at a rally in Memphis in March of that year, and agreed to lead the march that was planned for later in the month.

The march ended badly when a few people at the end began breaking windows and looting buildings. 60 people were injured and one looter was killed. A lawsuit was filed against King and some of King’s associates in the SCLC. The city of Memphis was granted a temporary restraining order against King and his associates.

Still concerned with non-violent protest, the violence that occurred during the march upset King. He was quoted in 1968 as saying “I’m frankly tired of marching. I’m tired of going to jail. Living every day under the threat of death, I feel discouraged every now and then and feel my work’s in vain, but then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again,” (Biography.com). King agreed to lead another march, originally scheduled for April 5, 1968, only with the assurance that they, too, were committed to non-violence. A few of King’s associates worked out an agreement with a Memphis judge that would allow King and his protestors to march on April 8, 1968, and the details would be organized on the next day, April 5. As King stepped out on to the balcony of his motel room on that very same evening, he was assassinated (Archives.gov).

On April 3, 1968, just one day before he was assassinated, King delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech to a crowd at the Mason Temple Church. In that speech, he said, “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,” (biography.com)

King and his associates were staying in room number 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on the night of his assassination. As he stepped out on to his balcony, a bullet hit King in the face, traveled down his spinal cord, and lodged itself in his shoulder. He was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital where emergency chest surgery was done. He was pronounced dead following the surgery.

At King’s request, none of his awards were listed during his funeral. Instead, he asked that it be said that he tried to “feed the hungry”, “clothe the naked”, “be right on the war question”, and “love and serve humanity”. Two months after King’s assassination, James Earl Ray, an escaped convict, was captured and admitted to the murder. He withdrew his statement three days later.

Following King’s assassination, riots broke out all over America. According to the report by Walter Cronkite on the night of King’s assassination, the citizens of Harlem, the largest black community in America, wandered out into the streets following the news. Some were dazed, others were crying.

People who worked with King asked those who were rioting to do so peacefully. They wanted to respect King’s values of non-violence. Robert Kennedy gave a speech to a crowd announcing King’s death. It was the only time people had heard him speak of his own brother, John F. Kennedy’s, assassination.

With riots breaking out everywhere following King’s death, many people were killed, thousands were injured, and there were millions of dollars worth of property damage.

King remains one of the most widely known African American leaders of his era. He was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. There is a memorial dedicated to him near where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.. He taught a nation that it was possible to achieve change through peaceful demonstration and nonviolent means. His assassination was tragic, but it does not define him. He would have been recognized as one of the great leaders in America whether he died at the hand of an assassin or of old age.

One fact I found particularly interesting regarding King’s assassination was that his family did not believe that James Earl Ray was responsible for the murder. They even helped him have a retrial. Another was King’s prophetic speech the night before he died. I had heard of the speech before, but I actually watched him deliver it (thanks to the wonder that is YouTube), and it was just incredibly chilling to hear him speaking of his own death the day before it happened. The final fact I found particularly interesting was that during his autopsy, it was discovered that King, though only in his 30’s, had the heart of an elderly man. That just goes to show how much strain he was under constantly, and he never once took a break, he never once backed down, and even in death, he continues to inspire people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources

King, Jr., Martin L. “Rev. Martin Luther King, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” Web. 01 Nov. 2010. <http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/058.html>.

“Martin Luther King Jr Against the Vietnam War and Poverty.” Associated Content – Associatedcontent.com. Web. 01 Nov. 2010. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1383620/martin_luther_king_jr_against_the_vietnam.html?cat=37>.

“Martin Luther King, Jr., and Memphis Sanitation Workers.” National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 01 Nov. 2010. <http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/memphis-v-mlk/>.

“Martin Luther King Jr. Biography.” Biography.com. Web. 01 Nov. 2010. <http://www.biography.com/articles/Martin-Luther-King-Jr.-9365086?part=4>.

“POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN – HISTORY.” POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN – HOME. Web. 01 Nov. 2010. <http://www.poorpeoplescampaignppc.org/HISTORY.html>.

 

 

The Martin Luther King Jr. Experience

“Behold, this Dreamer cometh… let us slay him… and we shall see what will become of his dreams…”

Genesis 37:19-20

So a week ago I promised I’d write about this. I’ve been super busy, so I apologize for the delay. This isn’t going to be nearly as eloquent as I would like, but the facts are interesting none the less.

I’ve mentioned before how I’m taking a class on the Upper South and then we’re going on a week-long trip in January to all the places we learned about. As part of the class, we studied Dr. King, and his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. Well, we had a guest speaker come in who actually knew Dr. King. He worked as a volunteer during the Poor People’s Campaign. (I’ll actually post the paper I wrote about this so you get some background information if you don’t know much about Dr. King, [especially his later years, which is what the paper focuses on]). This guest speaker was none other than Noel Leary, husband of the President of Bay Path. He wanted me to make it clear that he wasn’t best friends with Dr. King, nor did he know him intimately, but he did work with him, and he shared with us his experiences. He then gave me permission to share them with YOU. Aren’t you lucky?

(I don’t have the whole story memorized, and I only wrote down some key points, so it’s possible this post will be continually updated… but for now… here we go)

When Noel was about my age, he went to an event where Dr. King was speaking (one of his professors was doing some work with Dr. King, and a few of the students attended the event). The first African American hand Noel ever shook in his entire life was that of Dr. King. Now if that isn’t an amazing story to tell… I don’t know what is.

So, four years later, Noel became a full time volunteer for the Poor People’s Campaign. He told us that in order to work for Dr. King, everyone had to go through non-violence training and sign a pledge. Dr. King was THAT committed to non-violence.

He showed us a button (pin) that he had from that campaign. On it was pictured one black hand and one white hand. (I realize that for us now, especially my generation who didn’t live through this time, it’s hard to imagine what it was like back then, but please keep the context of the story in mind.)

Example of Context: Noel knew a woman who was mixed, black and white, and back then, that warranted all sorts of terrible discrimination. This woman told people she was a lesbian, even though she wasn’t, just because she didn’t want to have children who would have to go through what she went through.

During the marches, the protestors would sing “We shall overcome,” and used it as a signal for trouble. If there was trouble at a certain section of the march, those people would start singing to alert the rest of the marchers. If they sang it fast and loud, the marchers would join arms because they knew something bad was going to happen.

And the last big thing I wrote down, was that Noel was in Dr. King’s office on the night he was assassinated. Woah. (Obviously, Dr. King was assassinated on the balcony of a motel room, but still…)

I asked him how he found out about Dr. King’s assassination. As it turns out, a woman he was working with in the office needed a ride home and asked Noel to take her. She had never before asked anything like that of him. They left together and he ended up eating dinner at her house. During dinner, a neighbor came over to the house and announced that they had seen on the news that Dr. King had been assassinated.

So Noel went back to the office, and by then the rioting was starting. At one point, FBI agents came to question the people in the office. Noel began answering their questions, but then remembered that they weren’t supposed to cooperate (they were supposed to be non-violent, but also non-cooperative with people like the FBI). So, Noel just stopped talking all together. (This is where it gets freaky). The FBI agent put his arm around Noel, said “It’s okay Bob, my father’s a firefighter too.” Noel’s real first name is Robert, but no one ever knew him by anything other than Noel. This was the FBI agent’s way of letting him know that he didn’t have any secrets the FBI didn’t know about. It was a threat of sorts.

Alright, so there is obviously a ton more to talk about, but those were some of the really key things that stuck out to me while he was speaking to the class. I promised I’d tell him when I posted about it, and if he has anything he’d like me to add or facts I got wrong, I’ll change the post accordingly, so check back in a few days because the post might be different by then. [And PS, if you're reading this via Facebook, you'll have to check back on my actual blog site because that is where the changes will be.]

(And coming next is the paper on the last few years of Dr. King’s life.)

Documentary Premiere

Ladies, Gentlemen, and everyone in between:

Tonight is the Premiere of the Sajuka School Documentary Film!

When:         Wednesday, September 29, 7:00pm

Where:       Mills Theater, Carr Hall, Bay Path College, Longmeadow MA

Adgenda:

Film Premiere

Introduction of the Team

Q & A

Sales of products made directly at the Sajuka School Skills Center & Donations for a copy of the documentary.

I sincerely hope you can make it!

I will be posting again soon with ways in which you can donate, help out, or receive more information even if you can’t make it to the premiere.

Remember, you can read all about our trip to Africa by visiting [This Blog]

Fact.

“When the Power of Love

Overcomes the Love of Power

The World will know Peace.”

News for you.

I’ve been doing a lot less writing lately and a lot more reading. I’ve taken a gigantic step away from technology in these past few months, and it really feels wonderful.

Since mid-July, these are the books I have read:

Harry Potter 1-7   (in reverse order)                                   by J.K. Rowling

My Sister’s Keeper                                                                   by Jodi Picoult

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe             by Fannie Flagg

Dead Until Dark                                                                      by Charlaine Harris

Living Dead in Dallas                                                            by Charlaine Harris

That is a grand total of 11 books for pleasure in the past 2 months. Not bad, huh? And I’m working on that whole series by Charlaine Harris now… there are 7 more to go.

In addition to that, I’m reading all the required books for school of course, and they’re actually very interesting. Most of my school books are kind of … what’s the word? Boring? But this semester they’re all quite good.

Tonight I had my first meeting of the class in which we will be traveling down South (we’re actually traveling to the upper South). That got me really jazzed about the whole trip, which I already was but now even more so. AND I learned that we’re going to be at Graceland ON Elvis’s birthday. Woah. How excellent?

So yeah, that’s about all that’s new and exciting with me right now.

Also, I realize I never posted my whole engagement story OR a picture of my ring… so below is my ring. I’ll have to save the story for another time, though. Perhaps when I don’t have anything else to talk about? We’ll see. (The story is mostly a series of embarrassing moments for me anyway… so I don’t terribly mind putting it off )

White Gold. Blue Diamond in the center. White Diamonds on the band. And it looks way better on my hand than it does in a box

Strange Dreams

“Strange dreams, invade my sleep at night

Strange dreams they make me feel all right”

Well, they got that song half right. Strange dreams are most definitely invading my sleep at night. They do not, however, make me feel all right.

No sir.

Some of them are interesting to say the least but they all keep leading back to this really REALLY messed up recurring dream. And the really weird thing about this dream is that it isn’t the same thing over and over, it’s like it keeps picking up where it left off last. I’ve had that happen a few times before but most of those dreams were pleasant.

In this dream, and it’s been going on for so many nights that I don’t even know how it started, I have been witness to an unintended murder by a close friend. (That is to say, a close friend killed a stranger in the heat of the moment.) Then, the friend freaks out and decides to hide the body instead of telling anyone what happened. I think it might have even been self defense that started the whole thing. So the friend goes and hides the body behind an abandoned radio station out in the middle of nowhere. (I say a friend because sometimes it is a person I know and sometimes it is characters in the books I’ve been reading lately. They keep switching.) So then there are missing persons reports going out for the person who was killed. And here I am, caught in between telling someone what happened and saving my friends skin. If this happened in real life you can bet your ass I’d tell someone what happened ASAP. In the dream, though, I can’t seem to bring myself to do it, and it starts eating away at me. I know that there are clues leading straight to my friend, because they were seen with the person who was killed the night he went missing. I try to tell this to the friend but they assure me that they’ve got everything under control. Then, in the most recent set, someone is getting close to figuring out what happened and ends up finding ANOTHER dead body somewhere else. That’s where it ended most recently. It’s pretty incredibly messed up and I don’t want to have it anymore. At the same time, though, I kind of just want to have it once more and have everything be resolved, like realize that I’m dreaming IN my dream so that none of it was real and I can stop having it.

I don’t know if you know this, but having troublesome dreams doesn’t lead to the most restful night sleep you’ve ever had, and I just want a peaceful night sleep for once.

I’ve been having other really odd dreams beside that one, too. Chances are, if I’ve had more than a 3 minute conversation with someone in the past 2 months, they have made an appearance in my dreams. Really, really strange dreams.

Other dreams include all my teeth falling out, and losing my hair, but it’s more like I’ve been scalped than I’m going bald. I think I figured that one out, though. I wake up in the middle of the night and I find my cat sitting on my pillow and chewing on the hair on the top of my head. (Why, I have absolutely no idea.) But that’s probably related. Soooo strange though.

Embracing a New Lifestyle

I have been slowly trying to help my friends and family embrace my new lifestyle choice of being a vegetarian. I have decided to cook one full vegetarian meal per week to serve to them.

Last week’s Menu consisted of a Raspbery Lemon Spritzer as the beverage, Zesty Vegetarian Pasta Al Dente as the Entree, and Vegan Lemon Cake for dessert.

The Lemon Cake was definitely my favorite, and everyone who tried it agreed that it was very tasty.

This Week’s Menu, which I will be serving this evening, consists of: Semi-Sweet Lemon Sun Tea as the beverage, Vegan Chick’n Teryiaki Lo Mein as the Entree, and Vegan Strawberry Pie for dessert.

Hopefully this meal goes just as smoothly. I believe the Raspberry Lemon Spritzer was significantly more tasty than the Lemon Sun Tea is going to be, but the Sun Tea is no doubt healthier.

Note: The Pictures used are not mine.

On Such Days…

I believe it’s the first day of spring today. It’s been beautiful for the past week or so. Yesterday, it was 75 in the sun. That’s beautiful in my book.

Due to a massive miscommunication, I ended up with the day off today (not complaining). I decided to take advantage of it. I slept in three hours longer than I normally would have been able to on a Saturday (which is still not very late at all). I got ready for the day, and then decided to for for a drive. I love driving with the windows down and the sun shining; it doesn’t matter where I’m going, as long as I’m on my way.

I figured I’d go to Barnes and Noble and get some new books to read, since my most recent read is a book I’ve already read three times prior. Time for new books. So I took the back roads to my favorite Barnes and Noble, browsed the shelves for about a half hour, and finally settled on two classics: Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, (I never read it in High School, instead, I read A Separate Peace [incidentally, a fantastic book]) and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

A very nice man in line in front of me smiled and asked me how my day was going. “Very well, thank you,” I replied with a smile. It wasn’t a lie, I was in a fantastic mood. After I paid, I decided to stop at Starbucks. My drink came out perfectly.

On my way home, as often happens to me on such days, I had an overwhelming urge to go visit my Grandma. I was in her neck of the woods, and I usually stop in to see her on beautiful afternoons. This is the first time, however, that this has happened to me since she passed away. I immediately lost the smile on my face, and it was replaced with the same agony I felt when I found out she had died. Tears were pouring down my face and my head started pounding with the harsh reality that I’d never again be able to stop and visit her on such days.

How nice it would have been to sip my Starbucks in her sun-soaked living room while discussing my newest book purchases and asking what she had read recently. I tried to shake it off, remembering that she is in a “better place” and that it was still a beautiful day, but I couldn’t.

That’s why I’m writing about it, because if I don’t, I’ll be consumed with the agony for the rest of the day, and it’s too beautiful to be in a dark place.

I have a feeling that this will not be the last time I am overcome with the desire to visit her, but I’m hoping it will get a little easier each time, because this time, it was rough.

I miss you, Grandma <3

Marriage is like…

I don’t know what the weather was like for the majority of you guys yesterday, but here, it was pretty miserable.

Many people didn’t show up to my Advertising class, which was at 2:30 yesterday afternoon. We talk more about everything other than advertising in that class anyway, so this digression was nothing unusual for us.

My professor, who is pretty negative to begin with, (meaning he lists at least 10 things that he hates during each class), was talking about “mature love,” specifically in America. This, of course, led to the discussion of the divorce rate in America. I don’t know the exact figures, and I don’t care enough to look it up, because I’m sure it’s already different than the statistics that are out there today. He said it was 65%. That’s really high, but I don’t doubt it at all.

He said that, for foreigners who come to America, they would compare our view of marriage to a hot bath. When you get in, it’s nice and hot and feels really good, but after a while, it starts to cool off, and it “aint so hot” anymore. So, what do we do? We get out, and maybe find another hot bath to get in.

As awful as that sounds, to compare marriage to a bath… he was actually pretty dead on. At first, I wasn’t able to think of anyone I know personally who has gotten divorced. When I really started thinking about it, though, I realized that about 65% of the people I know ARE divorced. It wasn’t something I ever really thought about before, but it’s true… and you know what? That’s really sad.