Day 1 of 1,461 - Remembering Our Truth

It’s inauguration day in DC tomorrow and it is 20 degrees colder than normal. Proof that hell, has indeed, frozen over.

He-who-shall-not-be-named will take office once more, on a day which is reserved for the celebration of a legacy of spirit, truth, equality, peace, and hope; for celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. What an egregious affront to swear in a less than mediocre individual on the day we celebrate moral greatness. How dare he be allowed to lead this nation on this day - a rapist, an insurrectionist, racist, misogynist, homophobic felon. On the day we lift up the spirit of a man who gave the most oppressed among us a taste of joy, and hope, and freedom. A man who tirelessly dedicated his life to fighting the social establishment, defining the civil rights movement.

That’s the funny part, isn’t it? That while the rubes of America voted for the walking MAGA hat because they think he represents liberation from “the establishment”, we simultaneously celebrate a different man of real moral fiber who did actually stand against the establishment. To think that he-who-must-not-be-named cares for anyone or anything but himself is absurdity. Wannabe Voldemort would trade any one of our lives for a shoe leather steak and bottle of ketchup on a Sunday afternoon. He doesn’t give a fuck about you, about moral decency, or about the economy. And he won’t, because he can’t. He’s just another narcissist millionaire siphoning money off the backs of working class Americans by using the very establishment for which he claims to stand against.

Yeah, babe, you’re just another sucker. Pop on a MAGA hat and walk yourself willingly right into the slaughter. If you do, you’ll get a big pat on the back before they annihilate you. But hey, at least eggs are affordable - amiright? In reality, they aren’t going to do a goddamn thing about the eggs, either.

Oligarchy has been the tenet of America for decades. Quietly for a while; but then louder until the inequity is so great that they’ve even taken our voices, too. The enemy is money in politics. The enemy is the wealthy, and those who would passively commit manslaughter to make a buck.

I think often about Dr. King and his legacy, his actions and achievements. How he and his followers moved the dial so much in such a short amount of time. Yet I find myself wondering, was it worth it? Did it make a difference? Because decades later, here we are again. The plight feels hopeless.

Then it’s clear to me that Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the few men from history that I remember. One of the few figures I can recall along with their journey, and their impact. He is one of many greats; but he is most important because I remember. What good is a legacy that’s forgotten? A memory of a person lost to time? I cannot say.

What I can say is that because Dr. King stuck with me, above most others, my remembrance of him and his work will carry on. I will teach my children about civil rights, racism, justice, and liberation. I will tell them the stories of the Montgomery bus boycott, the Birmingham campaign, and the Selma-to-Montgomery march. I will remind my grandkids of the march on Washington. I will remind them of his assassination. Killing a man does not kill his dream. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left us that last gift in death. Regardless of what happens, his memory will be with me for the rest of my life - for the rest of my children’s lives - and the rest of my grandchildren’s lives. What he did matters unequivocally, because even if progress died, the dream is still alive within those of us who remember.

Thus, on this day of heartache, I urge you to celebrate. Celebrating our liberation, our ability to think and reason and choose freedom and equity for all is precisely what the movement fought to preserve. So preserve it. Celebrate that the hope is still burning within, that the legacy still stands strong, and that you are blessed enough to know.

Knowing is half the battle, so they say, but remembering is part of that knowing. As long as we keep the notion of liberation and freedom for all close, we shall prevail. “They may be able to take our dignity, but they will never take our freedom.” - Braveheart