Early Morning April 4...

​Early morning, April four
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride- U2

1968.  When I was studying it in school it seemed like FOREVER ago.  Like a different lifetime.  My parent's time.  I am looking at 50 years in a not too distant future. Dr. King was shot 8 years before I was born.  I grew up on Dr. King as a man of history.  A king of voice, fight, and equality for all Americans who came before me.  A man in the history books I wouldn't know or could connect with.  I am white.  I am privileged.  How can I understand? 

I can't understand. 

I am hypersensitive to the fact that my privilege doesn't allow me to understand. But I can't stop there. I must do what I can do. I can think. I can listen. I can engage. I can empower. I can believe in humanity in a powerful active way.  With my voice. With my vote. With my friends. With my enemies. With my children. With my students. For my students. For my community. For a greater civilization. For something bigger, better, and richer than myself.  For the generations I will never meet. For the misinformed, mistreated, or misrepresented. To transform the injustice. To transform the arrogance.  To transform the bigotry.  To celebrate the change. To celebrate the successes. To celebrate the stories. To celebrate the moments when inequality loses and love wins.  

In the name of love
What more in the name of love