paying my respect

With only five days to go until the inauguration of President-Elect Obama, I have been thinking about this very powerful photograph, and the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Martin Luther King was arrested twenty times during his life while protesting for equality. During his imprisonment in April of 1963 he wrote Letter From A Birmingham Jail, a text which should be re-read and re-visited regularly. Here is the passage that stays with me always: "I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial 'outside agitator' idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds." We're still on this journey, and I hope and believe that the 44th President of these United States will further our commitment to celebrating this inter-connectedness and our continued strive for equality for all of our citizens.