My dad's thoughts on the day
As I sit here watching CNN covering Washington, D.C., the day before the inauguration of President Obama, I find memories of the last half century flooding in. I am going to write them down, in order to share them with you, and hope that you will be inspired to share your memories, thoughts, and hopes with me as we move forward into what is clearly a new page in our shared history.
My first awareness that something amiss with everything that i had been taught about my country came when I saw a magazine story (probably "Life" magazine) about the lynching of Emmet Till. I remember my shock and disbelef as an eleven-year-old that such a brutal death could be inflicted on a youth just a few years older than me. Looking back, I realize this was the moment my social conscience was born.
I became fascinated in the following years with Dr. Martin Luther King, and the emerging civil rights movement. The August 2, 1963, speech of Dr. King touched my soul (as it did millions of others!) at a deep level. I remember vowing to never accept mistreatment of others and also to do whatever I could to promote justice and equality--whatever the cost might be.
While I was in the service, the civil rights struggle was raging here in America. Murder, martyrdom and struggle were the themes of the age. Untold numbers suffered to make a dream a reality!
The names that I remember clearest are Viola Liuzzo, a Detroit housewife murdered in Alabama when she came to Alabama to protest the murder of a civil rights marcher in Alabama. James Meredith who integrated Old Miss., and of course the Mississippi matryrs, Goodman, Schwerner, and Johnson--murdered in Mississippi for the "crime" of encouraging Blacks to register to vote!
In the words of an old folk song: "Wasn't that a time? Wasn't that a terrible time?" It was indeed! It was also a time that called for courage and action. For me it was a time that moved me to social activism. I remember my very first march was in support of an Open Housing law in Toledo. I remember the shock when a beer bottle came sailing from an unseen hand and struck me (harmlessly) in the back!
This was followed by picket lines, and sit-ins. On a cold night in early 1968 a small group of demonstrators (including yours truly) gathered to picket a Knights of Columbus Hall where George Wallace was scheduled to speak. A much larger group of racists confronted us, and violence seemed inevitable until the Toledo Police showed up, announced that we were under arrest and herded us into police vans.
They drove a few blocks over to Westgate (a Toledo shopping center). I remember someone asking, "Aren't we under arrest?" A gruff-voiced cop smiled and said, "No. We just had to get you out of there before those a--holes killed you" Then they smiled and let us go!
And now, 41 years later, Barack Obama stands in readiness to take his place as the first African-American President. I can't help but feel that a new age is really beginning! Obama will become president in what in many ways seems like a very dangerous moment. The economy is in the tank, the best of our youth are shedding blood in distant lands, our international stature has been diminished and sullied.
And yet, don't you feel hopeful? There's an old maxim about the Chinese characters for "crisis" simultaneously meaning both "great danger' and "great opportunity." That is the way this moment seems to me: if we can have the courage to live our ideals. To do what we know is right. To renew our faith in the Parenthood of God, and accept that we all are brothers and sisters, the children of that loving Parent, sharing our gifts with each other.
If we do that, our future is bright. If we do that, Emmet Till , Viola Liuzzo, Mickey Schwerner, and all the others--including George Wallace, who in the end came to repentance--will be able to rest in peace (on whatever plane of existence they currently reside!). Dr. King must be very happy.
I hope you will take a few moments to share your thoughts with others.
-- Fred Vallongo
