It was a lovely day and time for the Inauguration and the Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Monday, January 21. Dr. King would have been 83 years old had he lived. Yesterday was a beautiful time when most of us dropped our political differences and animosity towards each other and came together for support of our country. I said most of us because there were still shootings and death and negativity taking place. What we saw on the TV, heard or even being there in Washington were about positive and forward progress. The President’s speech was in line with Dr. King’s about freedom, equal rights and treatment. It was apparent to me that the President was mindful and respectful of Dr. King’s day and stayed in line with Dr. King’s commitment to all people. The day was not about him but the country. A large cross-section of America was there to show their excitement and support to prove it! The Brooklyn Choir, Kelly Clarkson, and Beyonce could sing.
I thought that Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of Medgar Evers, a slain civil rights leader from the 60’s, deliver a wonderful, soul-searching presidential invocation. “I'm so honored to be asked to do this and it's so important that it comes at a time when the nation will look at Medgar and others who died doing that that 50-year period, it's just critically important,” said Ms. Evers-Williams. This comes 50 years after her husband Medgar Evers, an NAACP Mississippi field secretary, was shot and killed in the driveway of their home. It also happens to fall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, marking two important anniversaries in the fight for civil rights.
I found this article researching and thought that despite the animosity, you still can’t keep a good man down. This article was written by Frederick Douglass, in 1865.
In 1865 upon the White House Grounds: I had for some time looked upon myself as a man, but now in this multitude of the elite of the land, I felt myself a man among men. This comfortable assurance was not of long duration, for on reaching the White House front door, two policemen stationed there took me rudely by the arm and ordered me to stand back, for their directions were to admit no persons of my color. Once in the battle, I did not think it well to submit to repulse. I told the officers I was quite sure there must be some mistake, for no such order could have emanated from President Lincoln; and that if he knew I was at the door he would desire my admission. To put an end to the parley, since we were obstructing the doorway and not easily pushed aside, they assumed an air of politeness and offered to conduct me in. We followed their lead and soon found ourselves walking some planks out of a window, which had been arranged as a temporary passage for the exit of visitors. We halted as soon as we saw the trick, and I said to the officers: “You have deceived me. I shall not go out of this building until I see President Lincoln.” At this moment a gentleman who was passing in recognized me, and I said to him: “Be so kind as to say to Mr. Lincoln that Frederick Douglass is detained by officers at the door.” It was not long before Mrs. Dorsey and I walked into the spacious East Room, amid a scene of elegance. Mr. Lincoln stood in his grand simplicity. Recognizing me, even before I reached him, “Here comes my friend Douglass.” Taking me by the hand, he said, “I am glad to see you. I saw you in the crowd today, listening to my inaugural address; how did you like it?” I said, “Mr. Lincoln, I must not detain you with my opinion, when there are thousands waiting to shake hands with you.” “No, no,” he said, “you must stop a little, Douglass; there is no man in the country whose opinion I value more than yours. I want to know what you think of it.” It came out that the officers at the White House had received no orders from Mr. Lincoln, or from anyone else. They were simply complying with an old custom, the outgrowth of Slavery, as dogs will sometimes rub their necks, long after their collars are removed.
Sir Frederick Douglass
