What a weekend

By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.
TriceEdneyWire.com Columnist

The weekend of October 15-16, 2011 held so much significance for our nation. The weather in the middle of October when it’s usually cold, the weekend weather was perfect. Aside from the awesome Rally and March for District of Columbia Statehood, the Rev. Al Sharpton brought his Jobs and Justice March to the Nation’s Capitol.

We observed the 16th anniversary of the 1995 Million Man March where 16 years ago, Black men from all over the world came together for peace, harmony and unity in communities where Black people live. From that March, Black men took away unforgettable memories, and at least for a while, it seemed that everything was going to be alright. Unfortunately, that glorious feeling did not last long enough.

October 15-16 was the anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry—an act in which John Brown lost two of his sons. Brown, a white man, survived the raid, only to be shot, captured and hanged soon thereafter for his bold effort to obtain guns to free enslaved Black people. His actions at Harper’s Ferry led to the Civil War and the theoretical freeing of enslaved people in America.

Following all of that, was the amazing dedication of the memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The ceremony was one of those magical days that we had not seen since that cold, but sunny day in January of 2009 when we witnessed the inauguration of President Barack Obama. That was a day when the cold did not seem to matter, because instead of keeping people away, people just kept on coming!

On Sunday, October 16, 2011, the people just kept on coming—trying to make it through the site of the Mountain of Despair onto the Stone of Hope. Many U.S. Presidents already have memorials in the area where Dr. King’s memorial is located; and finally, we have a King among them! If you are African-American, there is no way you can look at the significance of the occasion, and not feel great pride. We are the only race of people to come out of bondage in less than the normal 5,000 years, fought for and gained the right to vote, gained all of the basic rights that were always enjoyed by others, and played a big role in electing one of us as President of the United States!

We are a blessed people, but too often, we do not remember who we are. Our ancestors were stolen from Africa, and brought to America against their will, but many got over and have gone on to do great things against the greatest of odds. When I think about the sacrifices made by many of our ancestors like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to get us to where we are today, I know that many of us are blessed.

The memorial to Dr. King brought out so many to witness the ceremony to say, “Thank you Dr. King”, and in doing so, paid homage to Rosa Parks, Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ida B. Wells Barnett, Harriett Tubman, Diane Nash, Marian Wright Edelman, Ruby Bridges, Shirley Chisholm, and the list of women goes on—but our history often does not tell their story. I deliberately mentioned these women first. As we speak of civil and human rights we must remember they were there, along with men like Frederick Douglass, Dr. Joseph Lowery, Dick Gregory, Dr. Fred Shuttlesworth, Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, Hosea Williams, Congressman John Lewis and, of course, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Again, “Thank you Dr. King and all of our ancestors of whom we will be reminded every time we see that awesome memorial.”

This article was originally published in the October 31, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper