Martin Luther King, Jr Day

Martin Luther King Tribute from Jason Widney on Vimeo.

Turn volume up!

Martin Luther King, Jr did not mean so much to me as a Canadian. Peripherally, I knew I could not live my comfortable Canadian life without the efforts of Rev. King. I remember a black ex-boyfriend's father telling of discrimination and segregation in Toronto in the 50's and 60's. He was the only person who had ever spoken to me about such things in Canada.  Still, it was surreal. But then I married a white man and learned just how important MLK's efforts were to my life.

Two years before I was born, it was illegal in some states for a black person and a white person to marry. In fact, married couples were arrested and put in jail for having married 'the wrong person'.  In addition to African, my blood is mixed with Spanish, Caucasian, South Asian, and Chinese. However, like President Elect Obama, the color of my skin determines the color of my life.

This year, with the inauguration of the first black U.S. President, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s efforts come full circle. While MLK's "I have a dream" speech has seemingly come to fulfillment, there is still a long way to go. I pray HARD for our new president and his family. There are those who do not want a black man in that office. There are those who would scheme to bring harm to him. 

I know many of my friends and family do not like President Elect Obama. But he is our president and we must put aside our differences and support our president. Otherwise, we will be just like those....Democrats. God forbid.

The previous video was shown at our church yesterday. My husband, Jason, did the video and interviews of people in Chicago's downtown Loop.  Curt Carson, our music and band development director, came up with the idea to use Rage Against the Machine's song. That is our band playing.  Michelle McKinney Hammond is the female vocalist that belted it out.  The video was the opening to our series, "Unhindered" so that is what you saw at the end.