Honoring Martin Luther Kings dream today
Read this passage from “The American Dream.”
And there is another thing we see in this dream that ultimately distinguishes democracy and our form of government from all of the totalitarian regimes that emerge in history. It says that each individual has certain basic rights that are neither conferred by nor derived from the state. To discover where they came from it is necessary to move back behind the dim mist of eternity, for they are God-given. Very seldom if ever in the history of the world has a sociopolitical document expressed in such profoundly eloquent and unequivocal language the dignity and the worth of human personality. The American dream reminds us that every man is heir to the legacy of worthiness.
I wanted to honor Martin Luther King today, as this is the day we are to remember what he did, what he stood for, and how inspired he was to Love, in the face of hatred, fear and anger.
This document said that EVERY human was by nature of being born, dignified, loved and to be treated as the Sentient Being that we are, all of us.
It invited the possibility of all of us to have a voice, and that this voice and heart matter deeply. When we try to silence those that are different from us, (those in power, perceived or real) we are betraying the very premise that our founding men and women desired for us.
As I read from the book “the Souls of Black Folks” I felt a tightness in my chest around my own heart. I was appalled at what I was reading! How this constitution of ours left out people of color, any color other than white. I found myself putting the book down, thinking how could this be? i read on, it is true.
I truly believe that these men who created this, were truly high minded, however they still owned slaves, they themselves were part of the problem. I thought about that for quite sometime.
I get this was the dream, and the reality in the moment was very different for them. I began to think about my own ‘lofty’ dreams, then realizing I was in old habit patterns of thoughts and emotions that would pull me down again. I truly began to realize this is a process, we all know what is possible, and yet we have been conditioned in various ways.
In my own family when my daughters both decided to marry men of another race it caused much dismay in my own parents. They did not say this to me personally, they chose to talk to other relatives about it. I had no idea of the conflict it created in them.
My mom tried to be accepting of the men they chose. She really did try. I think that is because she remembered how she was criticized and condemned for her befriending Italians and walking to school with Frenchy Pickins. Ahh, the parallel process!
My dad, no way! He had an experience of a black man running into his car, saying he would take care of it and not doing that. He held onto that one. One conversation with him when my mom was dying was so painful to hear how he thought and felt about my grandchildren. This energy emanated from him. I remember when my oldest grand-daughter was in a room at Christmas time. She was about 2, walking around the circle touching everyone, except him. She actually made a very wide circle to avoid being near him. Fascinating how we can pick up the vibes. I now truly understand that one.
Since I have this innate curiosity I took some trainings and became a facilitator for Matrix Leadership Institute. When it was pointed out to us that we were so “white” ..we began to learn from Gerald and Joanne who were part of NCBI.
This is when I realized how deep the patterns of fear are. How we are truly tribal, stick to what we know, and who are like us. Think about this for awhile and simply notice how you do this. Perhaps even in families since each family has their own culture;-)
In one circle we sat in there was a big African man and a big White man. We were just talking, getting to know each other. This was the reason of the groups. How do we connect, how do we honor those who are like us, how do we honor those who are different from us. How do we stay in connection when we are triggered?
The White man very openly and honestly looked at the Black man and said “I was taught to be afraid of people like you”. The Black man answered “are you afraid of me”? The White man said “no”. The black man said “why not”? The white man answered “because I know you”. The black man then said “then get to know more of us”. In that moment I had to question my own biases that had been conditioned into my own psyche.
I remember being in Jamaica with Peter my friend and the man who would cook for us. We truly got to know Peter. After dinner we would sit with other Jamaicans and play games, laugh, tell stories. One day Peter, Tim and I were sitting under the stars by the ocean. We had asked him to spend the night with us rather than going back to Savannah La Mar that night.
As we sat under the stars there was a level of openness, perhaps the expansion of the night sky. We both owned to each other how we had been taught to fear each other. Of course with colonialism I truly got his fear of us whites. Mine came from generations before me also. We sat as we owned that one and laughed. Again the thought…if we could just get to know each other!
On this day of remembering Martin Luther King…I want to invite each of you reading this to take the time to get to know someone outside of your culture, race and religion. I believe if we do this we can change our perceptions and beliefs about each other, one heart at a time. Even in NCBI they statement is “we don’t change minds, we change hearts”. I found this such an accurate statement when I took that training.
May we truly begin to establish this Dream that we are truly Created by God knowing the dignity and love of Source.
“Love is the most powerful force in the Universe and it is the most available Force because anyone can access it” Dr. Martin Luther King.
