What a great day for our nation and a difficult day for the world. The crisis in North Africa; the war in Mali, snows in Paris and not much of anything in New York. A President who took the time to look at what he had wrought-citizens of every color, shape, size, whatever on the Mall cheering. And every once in a while a look towards the King Memorial. Dr. King was not the only man to preach on the Mall in 1963 and while his speech is indeed memorable, what truly was memorable was that Black People from all across the South made their way there. It was the year that 4 girls went to Sunday School and were bombed. It was the year the Bull Conner decided to smash the resolve of the growing Civil Rights Movement by attacking children. This was the year the Children stood tall. Lorenzo Thomas’ poem, “The Bathers” memorably begins: “We turned to fire when the water hit/Us. Something/Berserk regained/An outmoded regard for sanity”
Something berserk remains in our nation’s consciousness, but the thing is shrinking slowly like the hearts of Congressmen who refused to vote for Food Stamps. A great day for our nation and a time to reflect on how we can create a new mode of sanity.
Patricia Spears Jones the author of Painkiller, Femme du Monde and The Weather That Kills.
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