January 16, 2007

Happy Birthday, Dr. King


My cousin, Ajuan Mance, provided some insightful thoughts on today's MLK holiday in her 'Black on College' blog. I imagine that the holiday and the memory of the man is different for everyone. He died when I was nine years old. My memory of him is based primarily on books, movies and television. I have made presentations to African American groups on MLK in the past.

However, I join with Ajuan in wondering if there are too many of us that take his memory and this particular holiday for granted? Personally, I plan to head downtown and visit the National Underground Freedom Railroad Center today. That will be my personal way to make this more than simply an 'off day'.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

A few years ago, a group of second grade students created a timeline of the events in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Three years and 300,000 visitors later they revisited their work. Those students, then 5th graders, spend some time laughing and reminiscing before the conversation turned serious. What would have happened if Dr. King had not been assassinated? What would he be doing today? Here are a few excerpts from that conversation.