Martin Luther King Day

I remember very clearly where I was when I got the news of his assassination. I was driving home from an evening sewing class (what a leap of misguided optimism) in Ohio, and had the radio on when the bulletin came through. The horror was nearly overwhelming. And had I known my beloved Bobby Kennedy was to follow two months later, I would really have thought the world was grinding down to a disastrous gear.

Growing up in pure white Lancaster County, black acquaintances were non-existent. I do remember driving into Philly at a very young age and being astonished at seeing black children! My encounters with black people were mainly of the Amos and Andy and Aunt Jemima types and it never occurred to me that they came in small sizes!! I was a complete cultural innocent.

Since then, my path has been woven with people of all cultures, colors, voices and I am far the more complete person because of it.

But surely Dr. King would be saddened to see how his vision is still so stalemated, nearly fifty years later. Undeniable progress has taken place, but oh, the places we could still go!