Week 8 of 29: Commemorating the Life of Dr. King

Monday, March 31
Victory. I filed my state and federal taxes online. Glad to have that done. The rain was torrential, with loud thunder, like I rarely seem to hear in the northeast of the country. I tuned into Oprah’s “webinar” with Tolle on A New Earth. It’s a very worthwhile book, and her presentation of it is also well done.

Tuesday, April 1
I updated my ministerial record online, so now I’m ready to have my name sent to congregations I might serve as interim minister in the fall. This would have been my grandmother’s (i.e., my mother’s mother’s) 98th birthday. In honor of her, I did something to take care of myself, and went for a three-hour walk all around town after dark. Things have changed a lot … I think I can see the effect of the sub-prime mortgage crisis here, in that there are many houses that are available for sale here. And there are beautiful homes from the antebellum era … I fell back in love with the place again, in spite of all the things that make me crazy about it and seem not to change.

Wednesday, April 2
Mother and I got up early and went walking around the perimiter of the basketball courts inside the Eddie Lee Smith Multi-Purpose Building, a place he saw as necessary for the African American community in Holly Springs, where there are relatively few places for large groups to congregate. When we came back, I made breakfast for my mom, as I have done for the past few days. I’m glad to be able to offer that to her, especially after the thousands of meals she prepared for us, her family, through the years.

Thursday, April 3
I got up and went to historic Mason Temple Church of God in Christ in Memphis for Tavis Smiley’s live radio show there. He was there to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s last sermon, which was given from that pulpit. He had several guests, including Cornell West, Harry Belafonte, and Dorothy Cotton, who was the Secretary of Education for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference back then. I have hardly been more inspired. It was glad to be in the midst of African American people, honoring our heritage, and talking about what could be done for the future of the children, which was the theme of the day. I bumped into two of my first cousins who were raised in COGIC, and other people and colleagues I know from other church-related contexts. Before I came back that night, I stopped off to see my uncle, who is at a nursing home just outside of Memphis.

Friday, April 4
In the morning, I had a meeting across the street from the Peabody Hotel in Memphis to discuss doing some contract writing and editing with an African American church-based nonprofit organization. I went to City Hall for the rally sponsored by Al Sharpton’s organization, the National Action Network. It was so cold and rainy out there! Then we marched down the street to the Lorraine Motel and the balcony where Dr. King was shot. As emotional as the day was, Dr. King’s daughter, Rev. Bernice King, seemed displeased with the circus atmosphere of the occasion. Not that she said anything – she just looked stoic and annoyed. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for her, then or now, especially since the passing of her mother just a couple of years ago.

She and Martin III spoke on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel at the spot he died. He was powerful, and she was electrifying. They released a dove at the end … and then there were people who “had” to speak, like US Commerce Secretary Guiterrez, who represented President Bush. He was booed by some. I just walked away. I was so annoyed to have one of Bush’s people at the spot where Dr. King’s life was taken, in part because of his powerful stance against war, then to have someone speak on behalf of a president who started a senseless war that has left more than 4000 US troops and countless Iraqi and Afghan people dead. Very unnerving.

Saturday, April 5
Watch Memphis play UCLA with relatives. Memphis is going to the championship! We think they can take it all the way!

Sunday, April 6
I had planned to go to church at my older brother’s congregation in Oxford, but instead took my time and packed up for the first New Orleans leg of my trip. Went for a great walk with my younger brother, sister-in-law and niece (in her stroller) around a park near the older brother’s church. We had a great time. That evening, my older brother came over with his wife and visited. We prayed together before they went back to their house, and I went to bed, ready for the six-hour journey down to the Big Easy.

Week 7 of 29: Home to Mississippi

This was the week I crossed the one-quarter mark – three-quarters of the six-month break remaining.

Monday, March 24
Had breakfast with a friend at Busboys & Poets, a great new performance and dining place on U Street, not that far from Howard. From DC, I drove down to Charlottesville, Virginia, and spent some time with a retired ministerial colleague and his wife. Then I drove pretty much straight down to Atlanta, to spend time with my friend Rosetta. Arrived at about 1:00 Tuesday morning … by far the longest stretch of driving on the whole trip.

Tuesday, March 25
Woke up with the sun streaming through the window. Met some of Rosetta’s lovely Trinidadian friends who are also in the same spacious and well-appointed retirement community. Met my friend Jurgen from Switzerland for lunch at a Thai restaurant near Georgia Tech in Midtown. In the evening, Rosetta and I went for dinner at Nickiemoto’s, a trendy place with good food also in Midtown.

Wednesday, March 26
I had my leftovers for breakfast, bought Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth on cd from Barnes & Noble, plus some other books, then gassed up and hit the road. I was going to pass through Birmingham, thinking I didn’t know anyone there, but then I remembered my history and made my way over to 16th Street Baptist Church. It wasn’t open, but there is a beautiful park with fearsome sculpture depicting the civil rights struggle, counter corner to the church, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is just cross the street from both the church and the park. I’m so glad I made the stop, inspired by the memory of the four little girls who were killed when the bomb went off at the church in 1963 … the actual date, I found out was September 15, which was my parents sixth wedding anniversary.

At the beginning of this 90-second clip, the focus is on the 16th Street Baptist Church, then pans around the garden walkway to the statue of Dr. King that faces the church.




I felt a surge as I crossed from Alabama into my home state. I didn’t kiss the ground, but I had a sense of connection and relationship to this place that was new again. I’d never made the drive before from Boston before. It was the end of the journey that had taken me from the Deep North to the Deep South. I was grateful not to have been in an accident, or stopped by traffic or had a flat tire … It was truly a gift to have traveled those hundreds of miles, and with such safety and ease. I arrived at my mother’s house at about 8:30, after stopping off at the Wal-Mart just off the highway.

I had listened to Tolle talking about the pain-body and its manifestations in our lives on the drive down. Now I ask the question of myself when I hear unhelpful chattering in my brain, “Is that the voice of my true self, or is that the voice of my pain-body?”

Thursday, March 27 and Friday, March 28
Just getting settled in at home, and looking forward to upcoming trips: Bought my Sweet Honey tickets for the concert at the Kahilu Theatre on the Big Island, and connected with my friends in LA that I will be staying with when I’m there. I also tended to the mail that’s been accumulating while I’ve been on the road. I noticed that I’m adding on more weight than I want, and it’s time to do some serious walking.

Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30
I got to spend time with my toddler niece, and with my younger brother and his wife. I’m just amazed at how she’s grown, that she’s walking so well and working on her first words … and just as beautiful and bright as anything. The same is true of my cousin’s daughter, who was christened at our home church Sunday morning. Afterwards, most of the family came over for dinner. I made mac & cheese … I hadn’t done that in a while, but it still turned out well.