April 4th

I just noticed that today is April 4th, a date that will always be significant to me after having lived in Memphis. For those of you who are less aware of these things, here's why April 4th is a significant date in history:

"On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of (the Lorraine Motel) in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking (AFSCME) garbage workers of that city, (Martin Luther King Jr.) was assassinated." (nobelprize.org)

So indelibly does this tragic event stain the collective memory of Memphis, that it is still commemorated yearly (especially by current AFSCME members who maintain information about the sanitation strike on their website (http://www.afscme.org/about/1532.cfm)). This is a day that is solemnly commemorated by those who are still struggling for justice in a still unjust society, who are still trying to realize full equality and participation in the American Dream.

As a person who is rarely involved in public events of any kind these days, I still feel the pull of what Martin Luther King Jr. was trying to accomplish in his short time here on earth. I still see far too much injustice and inequity in the lives of the children I have known and I still want to do something about it. And like everyone who cares about these things deeply, I am still not always sure how to go about doing this.