<\/p>\n
I’ve been thinking all week about MLK Day. I want to write
\nsomething that honors Dr. King and not only remembers his legacy but continues
\nit in some way. And yet every time I try, I find myself at a loss for words. I feel
\ninadequate. <\/p>\n
My knowledge of (and respect for) Dr. King comes from
\nreading a few speeches, from a paper I wrote in college on his “Letter from a
\nBirmingham Jail,” and from the basic lessons we received in history class. I
\nwish I knew more. His legacy makes me think about philosophical and theological
\ntopics surrounding justice and compassion and love. And it makes me think about
\npolitical topics surrounding social change and cycles of poverty. And
\nhistorical topics related to the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and racial
\ndiscrimination. <\/p>\n
It also makes me think about the Civil Rights Movement in a
\nbroader context. I associate the Civil Rights Movement with guaranteeing the
\nrights of African-Americans. But the movement had broad implications beyond the
\nblack community. If the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior hadn’t been
\nwilling to risk his life as a leader on behalf of African-Americans, where
\nwould people with disabilities be? What line can we trace between his words and
\nactions and the fact that my daughter attends public school? (Truly–in the
\n1960s, Penny would not have been welcome within the public school system.) <\/p>\n
As a woman and as the mother of a child with disabilities, I
\nstand on the shoulders of many men and women who lived what they believed, even
\nat the cost of their lives. My life, and the life of our daughter, is the
\nbetter for it. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve been thinking all week about MLK Day. I want to write something that honors Dr. King and not only remembers his legacy but continues it in some way. And yet every time I try, I find myself at a loss for words. I feel inadequate. My knowledge of (and respect for) Dr. King comes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-down-syndrome","category-faith","category-family"],"yoast_head":"\n