A Romantic Revolutionary

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on this date in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. Next Monday, on the 21st, will be the official national holiday in celebration of his birthday.

Dr. King was a Romantic revolutionary because his vision to bring about change nonviolently was very unique to history. Few leaders in the history of the world have tried to initiate change without violence, but Dr. King was unique in this aspect. His ideas to elevate the existence of African-Americans and to usher in change was inspired by his admiration of Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent struggle to free India from British rule and by, of course, the teachings of Jesus Christ.

I was 6 years old when Dr. King was assassinated, and I remember exactly where I was in our house the night we heard the news on the radio. When Dr. King was cut down, he was only 39. Along with playing his jazz albums, my father played over and over Dr. King's I Have A Dream speech when I was a girl. The words of this powerful speech became engrained in my memory. There was a period when I could almost recite the entire speech by heart.

My maternal grandfather's stepfather was related to the King family. When she was a girl my cousin Maxine, the daughter of one of my grandfather's half sisters, was invited and stayed for several weeks with Dr. King's widow Coretta and their children. My first year as an undergraduate, I attended Spelman College in Atlanta, which is the sister college to Morehouse College, which Dr. King attended. At the time, his younger son Dexter was a student at Morehouse, and he would come over to our school to attend classes. I passed him a few times on the sidewalk. As for getting very close to Martin Luther King, Jr. himself, my family and I have visited his grave and The King Center which is in Atlanta.

Dr. King's vision probably looks very naive and unsophisticated to many today who seem to understand only trying to bring about change violently, but I feel that if the human race is to survive, we had better get over our bloodthirsty tendencies and remember and emulate the ways of Dr. King.

A moving tribute to Dr. King can be seen on YouTube here. The song in the video is called Black Butterfly and is sung by Deniece Williams.

Martin Luther King, Jr. understood the price he might have to pay, just the way I believe Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated a few weeks ago understood too.

The Money Tree

I have a little time on my hands today since bronchitis has creeped back up on me and grabbed me in the last two days. I don't smoke, but if there is a swift change of weather, I get sick. Our weather went from the 20s at night, to a little over 70 degrees F in the last couple of day during daylight hours. According to my dermatologist, people here in Georgia, are more prone than anyway else on the planet to have skin and breathing allergies. This year I have not experienced any skin allergies which dry out and make dark blotches on my cheeks. Two years ago, my dermatologist gave me the weapons I needed to moisturize, so this year my skin has not been a problem.

Bronchitis hasn't been much of a problem either. Each time I go to Turkey, my lungs seem to get cleared out, I guess because of the proximity of the sea. Strangely, the excessive smoking of some Turks don't seem to aggravate my allergies very much. It is just when I come back to Georgia....Still this year my bouts with bronchitis have been few and far between with me rarely having to use my inhaler.

This week has been pretty good. On my evening job, I am displaying well that I have a special touch with customers, and my sells conversions have been exceptionally good. Like my mom continues to say, "There will always be some Turks in your life." Maybe there will be. Suffice it to say, there is one who has tried to hold on to me for close to 2 years now. And now that I am becoming convinced of his sincerity, I now no longer want it or hope it to be off again on again between us.

Last Sunday, we had the centennial birthday celebration for Miss Lizzie Swanson which I mentioned in my Saturday post. The highlight of the event was that Miss Lizzie's church decided to make a money tree for her. The tree was brought after she arrived from church with the people who took her there. A tall, green artificial plant was made into a money tree with bills attached by straight pins to each leaf. In the end, the money which was collected by adults and children at her church came to $834. $834 won't go an enormously long way with today's inflation, but at 100, Miss Lizzie's needs are frugal. It was a great day for her, and she looks great at 100. Still feisty at 100!