Why I Can't Sit Back and Keep Silent

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Martin Luther King

I read Martin Luther King's I have a Dream speech to the boys again today as I do every year and I was once again moved to tears at the beauty of his words and the life he lived.  It is so wonderful to be able to show the boys examples of people who lived Christlike lives.  They looked at me incredulously as I told them that MLK was arrested 30 times in his life and was never violent.  He fought, and fought hard for what he believed in.  He didn't just sit back and let the status quo remain.  He is a hero of the highest order in my eyes.  And I am grateful for his example of standing up and fighting for what is right.  As proof of his great work we have a black man as president of our country.  Every time people scream racist at someone who does not agree with Obama's politics I want to scream right back and tell them they are WRONG.  I want to tell them how proud I am that we DID elect a black man.  How glad I am for my children's sake that he could be considered and chosen to lead in this country where blacks were for so long opressed.  No, I don't agree with his politics.  I don't want him to get his way on his agenda items.  But it does not for one minute change the fact that I am again, moved to tears when I think of the miracle that he WAS elected.  That he had a chance at all.  And we owe that in large measure to Martin Luther King.  A hero indeed.