I hope Wilma knows I respect her and am very happy she
lives in our neighborhood and
speaks her mind (even when I disagree).
Service is serious.
Celebrating with "service" instead of with heart shaped chocolates, or
pasteboard presidential memorabilia, or stockings filled with trivial
treats honors M.L. King.
The press releases, inviting service, keep King's name alive in ways that
pursue his goals and make his name a blessing for our hearts and in our
ongoing struggles to bring people together.
Each of us must honor his message the best we know how.
For me, a day of service is a beautiful way to honor and respect the
departed, including Dr. King.
I rarely send flowers to a funeral.
I am more likely to plant a tree, or volunteer time or many toward an
improvement that would have pleased the person I lost.
It may be during King Day volunteering that a suburbanite finds herself
applying fresh paint to the corridors of an inner city school.
The day of service than expands to all the children, families and
staffers who enjoy a cleaner, brighter environment, and my also move
forward through better informed comments or future voting by the
volunteer.
My experience, as a volunteer, is one of exposure to new people, folks
outside my work and family and worship circles.
As a child of the 50's and 60's my world was mostly white (mostly Irish
American white) and Roman Catholic.
I first "volunteered" in elementary School at St. Lucy's School for the
blind.
The kids were still mostly white and RC, but they were "handicapped" and
from many parishes so I met Italians and Poles and other ethnic types.
And I quickly learned, not just heard but really learned, that
"handicapped" was often just differently abled.
I met kids who could read with their finger tips, hear far beyond my
discernment and pick up on clues I was not sensitive enough to catch or
interpret.
In High School, I went on Marches for Peace and for Civil and Women's
Rights and to "Take back the Night".
I found common ground with people across lines of Race, Religion, Class
and Gender.
I attended Earth Day Celebrations and I tutored refugees.
Each bit of effort seemed to move in two directions.
While helping others, I was improved.
Sometimes volunteering exposed me to finer things and opportunities.
Other times it let me build upon preexisting skills.
A few times, I felt as if "no good deed goes unpunished" and I'd wake the
next day, stiff from overwork, or rocked by the enormity of what remained
to be done.
But looking back, I can't think of a single Volunteer effort that I
regret, and I remember many with pleasure or joy.
One of my current favorite people, is someone I met while volunteering
with CPN.
Another favorite is a ball of energy who I grew to admire as she staged
events for UCAL and SFDS.
At home, I am MOM, which is a fairly omnipotent spot, but in
volunteering, I find leadership in neighbors of other colors, religions
and gender choices.
When I read your message, I respect that you have opted out of this
interpretation.
But, I hope it does not encourage others to opt out.
When I volunteer with the children of SFDS I am awed that every child is
encouraged to contribute something to the greater good of the school.
Young children, with dark skin, and 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) language
challenges, from sub-poverty backgrounds and from across huge cultural
chasms, are taught that their contributions matter. That lives are
improved one step, one day and one person at a time.
This past Fall I volunteered at the CPN fair, and became very aware of a
class of people who saw themselves as "recipients" of social service
programs and volunteered energy. Able body people sat on benches
watching "volunteers" hang banners, pick up litter and arrange tables in
preparation for a day of community fun. I didn't know how to engage them
in the process. Several expressed comments displaying a belief that the
volunteers were getting "paid" and others acted as if "volunteering" was
beneath them. I was too busy, trying to get a kid's area up to speed, to
figure out how to properly engage the adults who seemed, to me, to be
little more that loiterers. I remain convinced, that the process must
start with youngsters. That we must raise children to be adults, not
compartmentalize them first as toddlers, than as kids and teens, and act
as if each age has a separate set of rules. I think rules start with
babies (no biting) and grow in complexity and subtlety (no thoughtless
disrespect) along a consistent line toward adulthood. And I try to put
my efforts into helping kids "learn to fish" while "playing together".
King's life was about service and sacrifice.
I hope each of us honors his memory, whether by
educating ourselves and sharing the knowledge (and links) with
others,
by volunteering, beyond our current comfort zones or
by praying or making phone calls if energy and money precluded
other options.
All the best!
Liz
On Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:05:29 -0500 Wilma de Soto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
writes:
> This is a serious day for me. Not a day of service.
>
>
> It has become that because powerful people wish to sweep under the
> rug the
> true reason Dr, King was assassinated, and that was because he
> strove for
> blacks to be treated equally under the law.
>
> He went about it in an non-violent manner had was met with
> intransigent
> violence until the end of his life.
>
> This "Day of Service" thing to me is a way of revising history and
> glossing
> over how Dr. King was treated. For me this day is STILL about blacks
> being
> treated equally under the law.
>
> If any of you have read Tom Ferrick's recent reports on the Trade
> Union
> membership in Philadelphia, one realizes that this has changed
> little since
> Reconstruction.
>
> I remember all the hubbub over designating a holiday for Dr. King.
> Now,
> it's like, "Well, he's got his ______holiday, so we'll make it
> whatever we
> want on it."
>
> I have nothing against those who wish to beautify the area, I just
> don't
> think this day should be associated with that.
>
> It's more important than that.
>
> -Wilma
>
>
> Historians Fear MLK's Legacy Is Being Lost
>
>
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=2008-01-21_D8UA90500&show_article
=1&
> cat=breaking
>
>
> Arkansas Celebrates MLK/Lee Day
>
> http://www.arkansasleader.com/frontstories/st_01_19_05/birthdays.html
>
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