We had two of our dearest friends over for dinner last night, followed by the movie, The Butler. None of us realized that yesterday was the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s famous, I Have a Dream speech. And none of us thought for a minute about the fact that our friends are African American and we are white.
We all loved the movie, highly recommend it, and while the producers took some liberties on the script relative to U.S. Presidents and their policies, the powerful story line was not lost on any of us. Oprah in the lead female role was brilliant, and certainly this movie is Oscar-bound.
The reminder of the bloody, arduous, painful journey of African Americans in our nation is tragic yet triumphant. I sat there multiple times in the theatre, tears in my eyes asking God to forgive us for our pride and prejudice. To think we now have an African American President in the White House, whether we agree or disagree with his policies, is truly a remarkable sign of progress.
I woke up thinking about the movie, wanting to see it again, wanting to be continually reminded of my own judgments and insensitivities, that turn-a-blind-eye eagerness to forget and ignore how rough it’s been.
I love how the movie depicted family, the ways in which each character fights for freedom in their own way. Isn’t that the ongoing journey of every human soul? Full of dreams yet fighting through barriers and prejudice, our own and other’s.
Dr. Martin Luther King says in one line of his iconic speech,
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
50 years later we did just that last night over lamb chops and peach pie, never thinking for one moment about the color of our skin or our differences. We are family and we are grateful.
Dr. Martin Luther King, 50 years ago
