DR. KING

I'd like to write an entry today honoring Dr. King (since it's his special holiday and all) - but the strange (and all too common) brutally honest truth is... I don't think about Martin Luther King very much and I don't really have anything to say.

Oh, I think a lot of him: his bravery, leadership, and willingness to stand for what he knew in his heart was true & good while others around him were working against those ideals. But, I don't often sit and actually think about what one simple man can do for himself, his fellow humans, and this country.

I wonder if many people do take the time to reflect on what MLK Day is really all about - or if they are just glad to have a day off from work. I suppose if I didn't have this daily blog, and actually took a few minutes out of each day specifically to write about something, I would fall into that oblivious group - just happy to sleep in.

A blunt thought: is it that I'm white and therefore don't feel the gratitude or pride that black people do towards Dr. King? I'd hope it's not that grossly simple... but it could be. Since I wasn't alive to witness the marches and the speeches and the shooting, do I therefore feel like it's just another piece of history which doesn't emotionally affect me?

I'm proud to be living during an election year which could prove to usher in the first black or female president. Even the fact that they are the front-runners in their party is an historic event. And assuming that humanity is willing to learn from the past and grow towards the future, it's pretty safe to assume that (even if it's not this year - although it pains me to say that!) there will eventually be a black president, or a female president, or both.

And will my children (or my childrens' children) look upon this time that I'm living in right now and feel as detatched about Hillary or Obama as I do about Dr. King? *

* I realize this may sound like I'm comparing these two candidates to Dr. King - I'm not. I'm mostly just wondering if this detached feeling from historical events is inevitable over time. No matter how passionate we are about them in the moment, do the following generations always seem apathetic to things that affected us so greatly?