The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We ate in the southern tradition today.  We made southern fried chicken, collard greens, hush puppies and sweet potato fries chased down with lemonade and followed by coconut cream pie.  I read to the family as we ate, teaching them about the tradition of "soul food."  Dan followed me by reading a short biography of Dr. King.

And then, we tried to read Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech.  Tried.  Tianna and Luke started but were stumbling on the big words written by a man of great intelligence and advanced learning.  So, I took over.  Rather, I tried to take over.  I didn't get very far before the tears welled up and my throat started to constrict with emotion.  I handed it over to Dan to finish.

My husband did a great job of adding dramatic intonation to the words of the martyred civil rights leader.  He did great for a paragraph...or two.  And then, it happened to him, too.  His voice started shaking.  I looked over and his eyes were wet as a look of determination came over him to continue.  I laughed.  "It's time to give it back to Mama," the children advised.  They are used to us.  They know the kinds of things that touch us and make us cry.

We did make it through the whole speech (will miracles never cease?) and Dan brought everything to an emotional crescendo as he read the final words, "Free at last!  Free at last!  Thank God Almighty,  we are free at last!"  I believe even my mother was touched as she remembered the prejudice that she herself was subjected to in the 60's and 70's.  She was THE minority person in our small town.  The only one.  And because of their ignorance, they assumed many wrong things about her.

When we decided today to do our little history lesson with the children, I don't think we realized how much we would come in touch with our own passion for humanity.  We truly believe that God created all of us as equals and that He endowed us with certain unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Let freedom ring.  God bless America.