b
y Ernie McCray
I’ll always remember this year’s
“All People’s Celebration”
of MLK Day,
in particular,
not only because it was held on the day
of the 47th president’s
inauguration,
something I looked at as an insult
to the memory of Martin
who preached love and non-violence
but also due to it setting the tone
for the work that needs to be done
to counter the actions of this man
who is hell-bent,
basically, in a sense,
through his madness and lawlessness
and insurrectionist bent,
on ridding the whole wide world
of common sense,
the program that day
starting for me
as I stood outside choosing sweets to eat
while from inside the hall I could hear
“Lift Every Voice and Sing”
ringing so loud and proud and clear,
and I entered and took my seat
as calls for keeping hope alive
were beseeched,
then a company of young dancers
moved to beautiful music
and wonderful choreography
and a lovely soul piercing song
of promise was sung
and the keynote speaker of the day,
a man from LA,
spoke to how he and his neighbors
had organized to help their fellow Angelenos
survive the fires,
working hand in hand,
highlighting how the inferno
had affected people who are rich
and people who are struggling,
leading us to bear in mind
how climate change
equalizes us as a humanity,
how each of us
wants to be treated with
respect and dignity
and how we should concede that reality
and dedicate ourselves
to just being human with each other,
closing the space between us
so that we can work together earnestly and closely
to put out the social and political wildfires
that will surely lie ahead of us
and make it so that out of the ashes
left in the wake of the flames,
beauty will rise.
And when this powerful speech came to an end
a pastor suggested in her benediction
that our actions as loving and caring citizens
from that moment on
might spawn the dawning of the creation
of a better world for everyone
and we all rose and sang
We Shall Overcome
and I rode home
committed to helping make such a dream
come to fruition –
with a memory
of this MLK Day
etched in my soul
until my days are done.
But, oh is there ever so much
to be done.
