America at our best; why we should all celebrate MLK Jr. Day

“Ben, I love to read your stuff, but are you gonna write about MLK Day this Sunday? I suppose that’ll be nice if you do, but if I see that in your title I likely won’t read any further. That day is mainly for Black people. Most of the rest of America just doesn’t really celebrate it the way Black people do.”

Those words were spoken to me by a dear friend whom I came across while walking down State Street. I hadn’t specifically planned to write about MLK Jr. Day, but my friend’s words greatly inspired me to do so.

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As I write my column each week, my two primary guides are kindness and truth. If I can stay loyal to those two pillars (otherwise known as “courage”) then I feel I have written well.

However, it’s a pretty obvious fact that when we try to tell the truth and do kind things in this world we often become a marked man or woman.

So instead of risking such a mark, many among us strive, instead, to do a “little” good as we pass through this life, all the while making sure we are not rubbing powerful people the wrong way, not taking any real chances, and not creating a big stir. That way many of us manage to do a “little” good.

And that’s exactly how much good we then do; a “little”.

But if you and I want to truly do a “lot” of good, we must take chances. We must, at times, risk our reputations. We might even sometimes risk our jobs. Ultimately, we may even go so far as to risk our lives … as did one Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Few of us go that far.

Ah, but those times in my life when I, like Dr. King, have risked my reputation to spread kindness and truth in this world … rarely have I felt more courageous, more whole, more alive.

I will share with you one of those times.

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I was invited to speak at a church one Sunday eve. Filled with very nice people, it was. And as long as you looked like they did, lived like they did, and believed everything they did … they remained very nice people.

As the pastor introduced me, part of what he said was, “Ben is one of us. He wants America to be like it used to be, back in the good old days.”

Because of my life’s work as a public educator and community volunteer, I had been invited to talk about ways their church could help make America a better place.

My blood was part boiling, part ice. I knew if I stood and said what I felt to be kind and true that I would be ostracized by many in that church.

I can’t recall all that I said, but I ended my talk with something like this; “If you good folks really want to make America a better place, I would challenge each of you to reach out to others who are not so much like yourselves. Everyone in this sanctuary looks alike. I see an all-white, believe-exactly-as-I-do club. We could well be in a time capsule here, from the 1950’s, the way America used to be. You folks have been so wonderful to welcome me here, and I’m truly grateful for your hospitality, but if you really want to make the world a better place, then I’d go all-out to make sure that everyone in the community, regardless of their race or religion … or lifestyle … feels as welcome here as I do.”

At which point, I no longer felt quite as welcome there by everyone. I could feel it in the air. But … that was fine. I had followed kindness and truth.

Yes, I would have spoken the same words to any other “all-one-color” church, be it all-Black, all-Brown, or all-Purple.

Now I can assure the reader that the vast majority of my white friends are not racist. Not even close. I’m not even sure the people of that church really were, either. And I am absolutely certain that my friend who spoke to me about his not celebrating MLK Jr. Day is not.

To call people “racist” before we get to know their complete thought process surely does not serve to bring us all closer together. Such name-calling and labeling only serves to separate us all the more.

We must strive to come together. As best we can. White. Black. Latino. Asian. Native. Mixed. New Guinea Highlander. Whatever we may “superficially” appear to be.

Whenever we strive to come together as the Human Race, it is then we realize that we all have the same dream, the one Dr. King spoke of; that of all people living together with equal civil rights and showing real brotherly love toward one another. Who should not celebrate such a noble goal?

MLK Jr. Day is America at our best. We should celebrate it. Together. All of us.