Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King jr.!

MLK day is my favorite holiday. Why? I'm glad that you asked. There are a number of reasons. 1) I like civil right. Kind of for them. It seems like a good idea. 2)There are absolutely no expectations for MLK day. Christmas, presents and Jesus. New Years, some spectacular kissing. Labor day, good bbq and last bit of summer fun. Fourth of July, good fireworks and looking good in a bathing suit. The list goes on. But on MLK day, there are really no expectations for what they day should be like. It is just a day off. 3) BUT, it always ends up delighting me. While birthdays are consistently disappointing, MLK day always has a pleasant surprise in store, like a really great lecture or getting together with friends to watch a civil rights film or going to a candle light vigil. I love those things because it isn;t just another day off, but a day off with some sort of meaning. Today I went with Ben (my genocide friend) to breakfast at Tom's restaurant (they have such tasty french toast there and the servers are the friendliest ever) and then we went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for a concert put on by the Good Day Chorale, which was directed by Mrs. Lovinia Pointer, age 91 and height 4' 10". She was hilarious, playing the piano and not afraid to stop the singing at any moment to reprimand the choir or the audience when they got something wrong. Nothing quite like some gospel songs and hearing the I Have Dream Speech to remind you what this day is all about.

Really nice commentary in the NYTimes by Sarah Vowell. Go here to read it.

Do you think that we are done with civil rights? we have come so far in this country, but I still think that we have further to go before we eradicate racism and prejudices of all brands and true equality exists. Maybe it isn't so much based on race these days as it is on economic levels. Or maybe it is-- I suppose that it is hard for me to say for sure as a white girl. But, I have seen this in the last year that makes me think that we have "a long way before we rest"-- the Jena Six, nooses hung on the doors of minority professors at Columbia, and more African American men ages 18 to 35 have been to prison than to college (and did you know that you can't vote for the rest of your life if you have been convicted of a felony? That is over a million disenfranchised voter). And even if we did have it all taken care of here in the U.S., looking outside of our borders we would see a litany of human rights abuses based on the race or culture of a person-- starting with the genocide in the Sudan and moving on to Iraq and the rest of the world. I have asked myself many times what would I have done if I had lived during the Civil War or the civil rights movement-- I remember being really perturbed by this in the 6th grade, thinking dejectedly to myself that I would probably have had to own slaves and would have just sat in the front of the bus because I wouldn't have known any better. That thought made me really sad, and I was relieved that I lived now so I could grow up knowing that people are equal. Now that I am grown, I still think about this, and realize that the fight isn't over. There isn't complete equality in our society now and there are plenty of boycotts and struggles to join. I heard Angela Davis, a former Black Panther speak last year for MLK day at the U of U, and she rallied the students there by telling us that the struggle continues and we must be watchful and not just accept the status quo. I don't have answers, but I do know that I can fight harder. Write more letters to representatives, make more phone calls, be more vigilant, and most of all, be kinder to people and recognize the humanity in everyone.

Those are my thoughts on that and I would love to hear what you have to say about MLK day/civil rights/anything at all.

Then this afternoon I went to Juniors with the singles from my ward. Juniors= giant hamburgers. Yum. but more food that I think should fit into my body. I spent some time writing and finished my story, which now needs some editing but at least I can say that I accomplished something over this break. Then off to the Upright Citizen's Brigade to see my friend Tim perform a political improv show and get some good laughs in with Em and Helen, and then home, home to bed. Or rather, home, home to chat with Em and write on the internet before realizing that is it 1 am YET AGAIN and I am not yet asleep and school starts tomorrow. I can't believe how fast the time has flown.

Em says hello to all of you.