Thursday, January 14, 2010

January 15

Even though Monday's the day kids get off from school, today's the day Martin Luther King was born. And sure, everybody knows who he is, but he's starting to become "that guy that we get the day in February off for" guy, or "that street that we took a wrong turn on" guy, or "that guy that had that 'dream' speech" guy.
But seriously, as a white/Asian mix, I know that his work was about more than rights for blacks; it was about rights for humanity, regardless of color, heritage, or any surfeit difference between two individuals. My ancestors might have killed each other on sight a century or two ago; my parents couldn't have shared the kind of abundant life they provided for our family, without the work of people like Mr. King. And anyone who can demonstrate to the world that there are more ways to bring about change than armed conflict, deserves respect.
There's a family of video comedians called the Gregory brothers, who have way too much fun with green screen and Auto-Tune. They also made this surprisingly touching (at least to me) tribute to Mr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech; those words he spoke really resonate now, when you consider the America that we live in at this moment. There's work still to be done, but we've come a long way...

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