In the Name of Love

Yesterday marked an anniversary of sorts. I hesitate to use the term anniversary, because that always indicates celebration to me. This was not the kind of anniversary one would celebrate. Yesterday was April 4th. See if these lyrics by U2 jog your memory:
                         Early morning, April 4th
                         Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
                         Free at last, they took your life
                         They could not take your pride
Bono was, of course, talking about Martin Luther King, Jr. who was assassinated on that day in 1968. I remember several years ago when my oldest daughter was in elementary school and we were studying for her end of the year "Standard of Learning" tests. She had some flash cards, and the one side of the card said, "He was one of the most influential people in the Civil Rights movement." She gave the correct response, "Martin Luther King" Me, being the kind of parent I am, I didn't stop there. I asked her a question that wasn't on the little cards. "What is the Civil Rights Movement?" She didn't know. They hadn't been taught that. The powers that be in charge of testing had decided that all of this man's wonderful, history changing work should be boiled down to a sound byte. Well, this parent wasn't letting it stay that way. After we had a brief discussion about what the Civil Rights Movement was, I then, through the amazing tool that is the Internet, pulled up a video of the famous "I Have a Dream" speech. That day she learned WHY he was "one of the most influential people in the Civil Rights Movement." Like so many other great men and women who have tried to bring about change for the good and betterment of mankind, their life was ended because of what they stood for. Yet, they had the courage to fight for that change no matter what the threat or consequence. Another person who fought for the right peacefully, Mahatma Ghandi, said this, "Be the change you want to see in the world." How many of us have the courage to be that change?

One Small Voice

Back in the summer there was a huge hoopla surrounding Chick-Fil-A. I, as I often do, expressed my opinion in a post. The Internet, news media, social media, and print media were filled with those same opinions ranging from Chick-Fil-A was out to get the gay and lesbian population to God himself invented the chicken sandwich. My issue wasn't with the comments that were made, albeit I did not agree. My issue was with the fact that I chose not to spend my money knowing it would trickle down to an anti-gay organization. Many people felt the same as I and decided to no longer patronize Chick-Fil-A. This is not a post to rehash how I feel about Chick-Fil-A. It is a post about how speaking up can make a difference. I know that in my younger days I never really got involved with politics. My attitude was mostly apathetic. What difference can I make? I'm only one person. In the past few years things have changed for me. Maybe it's because everything, every news item, every event is in front of our eyes in seconds. So when the uproar of outrage crashed over this country like a wave in response to Chick-Fil-A, people made their feelings known. Last week, a good friend of mine sent me an article to read. Chick-Fil-A, I am assuming because of public outcry, was pulling their funding from Anti-gay organizations. Yay, Chick-Fil-A! Thank you for listening. Thank you for doing something that I am sure you will take heat on as well, but I feel like it was the right thing. This is a big year for using your one small voice to speak up no matter what side of an issue you're on, folks. Not to sound corny, but we can make a difference, but not by doing nothing or remaining quiet. "Be the change you want to see in the world." ~ Mahatma Ghandi