Monday is the holiday dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. I'm not sure it has ever resonated in our cultural identity as much as it does this year. Dr. King's faith in America is going to be realized with the swearing in of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. Hallelujah!
Obama was not my first choice for the Democratic Party's nominee. My favorite fell to the wayside early on. I started the campaign not liking Hillary all that much, but by the time it ended, I liked her just fine. She got better towards the end of the campaign. So did Barack. I always considered Obama too establishmentarian for my tastes. I'm quite sure I never bought into his "change" meme. I thought he was far too clever in his avoidance of the most important issue affecting my life -- Prop. 8. I heard it mentioned several times that he was against Prop. 8, but I never heard him say it. What I did hear him say was that marriage is between a man and a woman. When Obama accepted Warren's invitation to speak to his church kinda sorta at the same time as McCain, Obama gave the Yes of 8 folks that nice little sound bite which they used against us, just as we all knew it would. I don't doubt Obama was against Prop. 8. I just wish I could have heard him say it himself.
Does anyone doubt that there would be no Obama if there hadn't been a King? Dr. King saw the possibilities of the American dream even in the darkest moments of personal despair. When he marched in Selma, he believed he had as much power to knock down the barriers of racial hatred as Joshua did at Jericho when he brought the walls down with his trumpets. He had faith. The power of his faith kept hope glowing in the hearts and souls of millions of people.
So this Monday I am celebrating the Feast of St. Martin's with friends. There is a soul food potluck at the Eagle in San Francisco and also food for the soul as my friend Fundi performs selections from his book, Moving on the Road to a Man-Song Sanctuary, available at Books, Inc. and Anarchist Books, as well as Amazon.com., and if I can ever figure out how to edit his performance at the Mix last Tuesday, I'll have a YouTube video up for your enjoyment.
Thank you, St. Martin, for helping us to keep faith.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if he were here to see?
Posted by: brenda | January 17, 2009 at 01:28 PM