Heart

[madamesilverspurs]

Our community has been uneasy, locked in a cycle of cringe and wince that has been going on for far too long. Much as some might hate to admit it much of that unease is rooted in racial issues. You don’t have to go any farther than the comments boards on the newspaper’s website to get the “flavor” of the unhappiness. There is always some verbal flamethrowing about where certain people come from and where they need to be deported to. It’s ugly. And it’s constant.

The community did come together for a bit as we shared those moments of horror at what had transpired in Tucson. There was even some conversation about revisiting the idea of civility in our conversations. But the opportunity evaporated when the owner of a local radio station decided to increase the volume on jackassedness, and he did so with twice-daily broadcasts of a “letter” that slurs Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a letter whose contents have been either clarified or debunked since it was first presented on a white supremacist website. He’s now running the broadcast four times a day.

Enough. Not of him. Enough of my silence in the face of such ugliness. There are those who speak against it, those who stand against it. They were gathering this morning to walk in honor of Dr.King, and I wanted to be with them. Now, this isn’t the kind of thing I usually do; walking any distance of more than a few feet can be difficult and painful. But, dammit, some things have to be worth it, right? And I do understand that this part of the state doesn’t like Obama, and they voted for Tancredo in the governor’s race. But I’ve been cussed at and yelled at before, so off I went, an old lady who wears oxygen and uses a cane to walk.

I knew it wasn’t a big event; according to the newspaper it’s grown over the years to about 200 participants. But I figured that one more voice might be welcome. Turns out that about a thousand of my neighbors had the same idea. We hugged and smiled as we found friends in the crowd, and we laughed in delight as more and more people arrived. We were babies in strollers, we were seniors using walkers. We were highschool teams, we were toddlers riding in wagons. We were Christian and Jew and Muslim. And we walked together. From the train depot to the event center, we walked and rolled and toddled together.

WE walked together. We Shall Overcome. Indeed.

[Divine Discontent]

1. K&R

[knowbody0]

2. madamesilverspurs

how lovely! thank you so much for sharing your day. just what I needed to sleep upon.

peace and love to you

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I am proud to send you to the Greatest Page!

This is the reality of America...

Wonderful!

Thank you.

:hug:

[Mojeoux]

4. Great for you, and for our dear America too.

Bless you for being such a tough cookie. You give me hope.

[me b zola]

5. K&R

[juajen]

6. K and R

[archiemo]

7. Congratulations to you! Neat life experience!!

[mdmc]

8. ..

[bobbolink]

9. Beautiful story!

Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around.....

:hi: