I, and my white Congregational Church teenage brothers and sisters held countless civil rights rallies and sung untold choruses of "We Shall Overcome" in the early and mid-60's while we barley dipped our toes into civil disobedience. We were well intended; we were oh so mildly disruptive and; we could occasionally find some glimmer or success. In college in the late 60's and as a married student, we lived in a small Tennessee town where the basement of the county courthouse served as the meeting place for the KKK. On the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated many in the community celebrated. What had been modest embers of civil rights interest as a young teen were now stoked into a burning desire to do more -- get involved -- take a place in trying to be a solution rather than a problem. Fairly early in my professional career I was given a unique opportunity to work with a minority business neighborhood in Atlanta, GA to build a more solid economic foundation for that community. Serving on the City Council, at that time, was John Lewis and the Mayor was Andy Young. Martin Luther King III was an up-and-coming young politician; H. Rap Brown was leading a Muslim enterprise in our business district; Hosea Williams was, at the time, a political gadfly who moved mountains by his dogged agitation; Ralph David Abernathy's church was across from my office. John Lewis became a good personal friend and, as with every cause he ever entertained, he worked tirelessly with me to improve economic conditions. He touched me in ways I can't describe. A year after his passing I took my teenage grandson to the Edmund Pettus Bridge and stand on the spot where John was so brutally beaten. I am ashamed to admit I just couldn't find the words to share with him at that moment -- and I couldn't explain how little had truly changed from my teenage version of We Shall Overcome to his teenage life today. All I could do was cry and hope he understood.
As usual when I read something of yours I feel nudged, inspired, hopeful, emotional, and proud to know you. Heading to Montgomery in May and now I plan to go to the Legacy Sites. Thank you.
gratitude for the comprehensive thought commitment and resources given to
this pilgrimage. Thank you for sharing all
the complexity in a meaningful resonant way!!
I, and my white Congregational Church teenage brothers and sisters held countless civil rights rallies and sung untold choruses of "We Shall Overcome" in the early and mid-60's while we barley dipped our toes into civil disobedience. We were well intended; we were oh so mildly disruptive and; we could occasionally find some glimmer or success. In college in the late 60's and as a married student, we lived in a small Tennessee town where the basement of the county courthouse served as the meeting place for the KKK. On the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated many in the community celebrated. What had been modest embers of civil rights interest as a young teen were now stoked into a burning desire to do more -- get involved -- take a place in trying to be a solution rather than a problem. Fairly early in my professional career I was given a unique opportunity to work with a minority business neighborhood in Atlanta, GA to build a more solid economic foundation for that community. Serving on the City Council, at that time, was John Lewis and the Mayor was Andy Young. Martin Luther King III was an up-and-coming young politician; H. Rap Brown was leading a Muslim enterprise in our business district; Hosea Williams was, at the time, a political gadfly who moved mountains by his dogged agitation; Ralph David Abernathy's church was across from my office. John Lewis became a good personal friend and, as with every cause he ever entertained, he worked tirelessly with me to improve economic conditions. He touched me in ways I can't describe. A year after his passing I took my teenage grandson to the Edmund Pettus Bridge and stand on the spot where John was so brutally beaten. I am ashamed to admit I just couldn't find the words to share with him at that moment -- and I couldn't explain how little had truly changed from my teenage version of We Shall Overcome to his teenage life today. All I could do was cry and hope he understood.
As usual when I read something of yours I feel nudged, inspired, hopeful, emotional, and proud to know you. Heading to Montgomery in May and now I plan to go to the Legacy Sites. Thank you.