I dream things that never were, and ask why not?"
- Robert F. Kennedy
IN MEMORY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR / 40TH ANNIVERSAY
April 5, 2008
Today started out really crazy for me. My aunt Lillian had to have open heart surgery and things were not looking good for her. She is a matriarch in my family and has lived through so many trials and tribulations. There have been times of great joy as well. I am humbled because she represents such a large part of my history and who I really am. So, on the 40th anniversary of the slaying of Dr. King I want to implore all people but black people especially the importance of getting past the past and reaching for a new tomorrow. I am so sick of hate in all forms…black on black, black on white, black on brown etc…. I strive to love like God loves…unconditionally. Granted it is easier said then done but I am committed to the task. I want to dedicate the following poem to the continuation of Dr King’s dream and the legacy he left behind. Even though, it’s aimed at black people there is something we can all take from it.
THE BLACK FAMILY PLEDGE
BECAUSE we have forgotten our ancestors,
our children no longer give us honor.
BECAUSE we have lost the path our ancestors cleared
kneeling in perilous undergrowth,
our children cannot find their way.
BECAUSE we have banished the God of our ancestors,
our children cannot pray.
BECAUSE the old wails of our ancestors have faded beyond our hearing,
our children cannot hear us crying.
BECAUSE we have abandoned our wisdom of mothering and fathering,
our befuddled children give birth to children
they neither want nor understand.
BECAUSE we have forgotten how to love, the adversary is within our
gates, an holds us up to the mirror of the world shouting,
"Regard the loveless"
Therefore we pledge to bind ourselves to one another, to embrace our
lowliest, to keep company with our loneliest, to educate our illiterate,
to feed our starving, to clothe our ragged, to do all good things,
knowing that we are more than keepers of our brothers and sisters.
We ARE our brothers and sisters.
IN HONOR of those who toiled and implored God with golden tongues,
and in gratitude to the same God who brought us out of hopeless desolation, we
make this pledge.
——-Maya Angelou
