Today in the U.S. it is Martin Luther King Day.
I can still recall my first memory of MLK Day. I was a little girl, too young, perhaps, to even understand the significance of what this man had accomplished and had inspired others to accomplish. In my memory there is a lot of the color blue, and my mother had opened a bottle of champagne special, to celebrate. She held her glass out to me, and ever the conscientious one I declined her offering citing the whole age issue where alcohol was concerned. She snorted (yes, you snorted mama) in amusement and said, laughter in her voice, "Oh come on, Allegra. It's Martin Luther King Day! He did wonderful things for us. You can have a sip of champagne."
So sacred, this sip of champagne shared with my mother, on MLK Day. I still didn't fully understand who the man was and what it was, exactly, he had done for us, but if mama said he was important, far be it from me to say otherwise. Now that I am older I can better appreciate Martin Luther King, flaws and all, for the work he did to advance civil rights for all citizens of the U.S.A. A society that moves further away from oppression and closer to freedom and equality brings benefits to every member of that society.
In the spirit of celebrating the road traveled and the road still to come, here is a video my buddy Anceline and I recorded a few years ago. Let us all keep our eyes on the prize.
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