Thursday, August 23, 2007

Yours Is A Story To Tell

Dog days of summer lived up to its reputation in Atlanta when temperatures tipped the 100 degree scale; registering 101, 103 and 106 degrees day after day, forcing the curtailing of watering yards and gardens. The hardy jogging and biking communities cut their activities. One activity the heat did not present an obstacle was the 50th anniversary celebration of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the opening of its new Sweet Auburn headquarters building. SCLC was founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I had a front row seat for the August 6 celebration which started where civil rights history was born. There I was, sitting in the speakers row of neatly lined folding chairs on the front lawn, facing the front porch of the birth home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King family members, including matriarch Mrs. Christine King Farris and others were sitting on the porch of the Sweet Auburn Victorian style home just to the right of a podium facing out into the yard.

Auburn Avenue slowly filled to capacity with celebrants of all ages and persuasions. A high school drum line on an occasion would tap out a symphonic jazzy beat that the late great percussionist Max Roach would be proud. Freedom singers would strike the courageous cords of song notes and echo poetic harmony bringing to life the real and still so unimaginable history of the hot heat of indifference that the SCLC and its disciples faced in thwarting legal oppression, ungodly attitudes and bondage of the “beloved community.”

I had a front row seat. Then it was my turn to speak from the family porch; to speak a small truth about an incredibly rich and enduring history concerning a band of brothers and sisters whose vary light awakens, energizes and excites non-violent freedom loving people throughout the world.

My message: Yours Is A Story to Tell.

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