I read about Daniel Beaty on a blog today and proceeded to go and watch some of his videos on YouTube (my most recent time-sucking habit).
What an amazing man! I can't believe I've never heard of him before...
Daniel Beaty – poet “Knock Knock”
Daniel Beaty – Emergence See
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 40th Anniversary of his Death
Dear Dr. King-
I am not African American and I cannot understand how it must feel to be judged and oppressed because of my skin color. Regardless of that, you have always been one of my heroes. You died when I was less than a year old, but I always felt your presence in the world from the time I was a child.
Today it has been 40 years since your assassination. I watched videos of your life and the last days and the years have not assuaged the grief that I feel for the loss of your life, the loss of the leader who could actually lead the United States to the next level. Your dream is still not a reality. Even as Barak Obama is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. President, it is so obvious that we are not where we need to be. Poverty, oppression, racism and the disenfranchisement of black individuals and other minority people are still the norm. Some things have changed, but not enough.
As I sat at my computer today, listening to your voice speak prophetically that you had "been to the mountain top" and "seen the other side" that you "might not get there with you", I wept. Wept as if it was the first time you moved me so. It is not the first time. Nor the last.
In honor of your life, I am posting videos to commemorate your dream, your life, your great work and hope. It is difficult not to try to imagine what would be different in our world if you had not been taken from us.
In loving memory
Jean
"The Last Days of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (from MSNBC)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s last speech
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's "I have a Dream" speech from the March on Washington
I am not African American and I cannot understand how it must feel to be judged and oppressed because of my skin color. Regardless of that, you have always been one of my heroes. You died when I was less than a year old, but I always felt your presence in the world from the time I was a child.
Today it has been 40 years since your assassination. I watched videos of your life and the last days and the years have not assuaged the grief that I feel for the loss of your life, the loss of the leader who could actually lead the United States to the next level. Your dream is still not a reality. Even as Barak Obama is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. President, it is so obvious that we are not where we need to be. Poverty, oppression, racism and the disenfranchisement of black individuals and other minority people are still the norm. Some things have changed, but not enough.
As I sat at my computer today, listening to your voice speak prophetically that you had "been to the mountain top" and "seen the other side" that you "might not get there with you", I wept. Wept as if it was the first time you moved me so. It is not the first time. Nor the last.
In honor of your life, I am posting videos to commemorate your dream, your life, your great work and hope. It is difficult not to try to imagine what would be different in our world if you had not been taken from us.
In loving memory
Jean
"The Last Days of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (from MSNBC)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s last speech
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's "I have a Dream" speech from the March on Washington
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