The holidays are over for another year and we settle in for the winter months.
I think of fireplaces alight and hot chocolate.
January is usually a very cold month, even in the south but it has been wishy
washy this year. One day cold, one day hot.
I will be moving soon to another state where it snows. I am looking forward to
seeing snow. It makes the inside feel so much warmer and cozy.
January is a pretty slow month for big events. The main event this month is
Martin Luther King's birthday, today January 15, 2006.
I am a child of the sixties and it was a tumultuous decade. I first heard of
Martin Luther King when John F Kennedy was president, at least that is when
I remember hearing about him. He was like a Gandhi for black Americans.
He was a Baptist minister, husband, father, and son. He was not perfect but
no one is. He did try to do what he thought was right and live for God and do
what he asked of him. He earned the respect of many people, including the
Kennedy's.
The first traumatic event of the sixties was the Bay of Pigs. One of my
brothers was in the infantry and had to prepare for the invasion. Thankfully,
he did not have to go. The Russians eventually removed all missiles from
Cuba and the Cold War went on for more than two decades.
The Kennedy's were democrats and were and still are for human rights of all
kinds. They wanted to help those in need and they and Lyndon Johnson after
Jack Kennedy did much to aid the less fortunate in our society.
I remember the day and time it was announced over the loud speaker at
school that President Kennedy had been shot while in his motorcade in
Dallas, TX. It was a beautiful day and they had the top down, waving at the
people along side the road. Our and America's road seemed to make a sharp
turn that day. The sixties were to change the way we think and act.
The Vietnam conflict was to drag on and on and protests became the norm
on America's campuses. We "Baby Boomers" became "Hippies" and
"Yippies". The "Flower Child" was born and really did wear flowers in their
hair.
Lyndon Johnson did not fare well in the White House. He ordered heavy
bombing of Cambodia and North Vietnam. The protesters got louder and he
heard them. He did run for President again.
The south started desegregation during these years. My school was
desegregated and there were no problems. We all got along fine. All the
stories about the south are not true but some places were very bad. Violence
erupted and some people lost their lives.
The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr was successful in his efforts to protest
peacefully. He led many marches and became a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
He was admired by black and white alike. He did have a dream that is only
now really coming to fruition. I hope things keep changing for all peoples of
color and all races all over the world.
On April 4, 1968 someone assassinated Dr King on a motel balcony in
Memphis, TN. The Reverend Jessie Jackson was standing on the balcony
with him along with a few others. All were stunned and the nation was in
morning. Another visionary lost his life and the world was a lesser place for it.
The horror was not to end there. Robert F Kennedy was running for president
of the United States of America. He spoke at a fund raising dinner and was
trying to get our of the hotel to continue on his election sojourn. There were
people and reporters all around him in the parking garage when a gun
appeared out of the crowd and shot him dead.
We ask ourselves over and over why do all these senseless things happen.
Only God knows the answer to that question.
February 14th is Valentine's Day
February is Black History Month.
Don't forget St Patrick's Day in March
Aspiring Writers Winter Edition
