Well, what a small world : )

Janie's impressions of our little small town march and celebration are right, of course, but not the whole story. There are people, and congregations, who clearly would like the day to be 'theirs', and my (white) presence doesn't make them happy.

Tough shit. I'm going anyway.

Not alone because there are plenty of other people who are as glad to see me as I am to see them, and we will march, and sing, and eat together. Some of them, this is the only time we see each other during the year, and we all share the blame for that, and changing that is my challenge.

I was at a meeting today where I recalled that the meals I've attended around this event have been some of the best of my life, if only because invariably SOMEONE has come to me and personally welcomed me. The point was being made that as long as people eat together, and make music together, boundaries must be broken down.

King belongs to all of us because he is one of the great and blessed people this country has produced, and the ripples of his love and conviction are still moving out. We are all in that stream together, peacefully, or kicking and screaming.

Thanks for the thread, Janie.

Dani