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.