Always Living and Learning

I once worked on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King, Jr., many years earlier in 1963, gave his famous `I Have a Dream’ speech on the Capital Mall in Washington, D.C. Earlier this week, our country observed a national holiday in King’s honor – a holiday that has been recognized since 1986. It’s only fitting that we pay tribute to the great Civil Rights leader and hero who helped improve equality for his people and all minorities. He was assassinated in 1968 at age 39. A year after I graduated from college, I had a temporary government position as a park ranger on the Washington, D.C. Mall in 1987. One of my assigned duties that summer was to be on hand at the Lincoln memorial to answer questions about our 16th U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln. Along with working at the Lincoln Memorial, I also, at times, was posted at the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, and Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial. I’ll never forget being allowed, with my park ranger peers, to walk up and down inside the Washington Monument after closing hours late at night. We were fascinated by the state stones engraved in the Monument walls as we ascended the steps. Another memory was working at the Lincoln Memorial one hot night. I was the only ranger present and heeding to my duties talking to people about the Lincoln site. It was a strange but neat feeling that the 19-by-19-foot statue of Lincoln – a statue made of Georgia Marble in which the President is seated in a classical chair – towered over and seemed to look down upon me. At one point, I realized I was the only person present at the Memorial – no police, rangers, or visitors! I stood there, attired in my gray and green National Park Service ranger uniform and peered onto the D.C. Mall knowing I would never have such a moment again. The Lincoln statue showcases Lincoln in a sitting posture - thought to be a Roman symbol of authority. The Memorial itself symbolizes Lincoln’s belief in freedom and dignity of all people. The Memorial, which sits at the Western end of the D.C. Mall, was built in the form of a neo-classical temple. The architect was Henry Bacon. The Monument, built between 1914 and 1922, is looked upon as one of our nation’s most beloved shrines and opened to the public on May 30, 1922. In my recent English classes at Grants High School, we studied the life of King, the great Civil Rights leader. Lincoln’s presidency helped open the doors to the end of slavery. King, a Baptist minister and social activist born in the southern state of Georgia, respected and revered Mr. Lincoln. He was probably pleased that his famous speech, `I Have a Dream,’ was delivered in front of the Lincoln Memorial. How appropriate. In that historical speech, King referenced various aspects of American life: the reciting of the Patriotic song, `My Country ‘Tis of Thee;’ his hopes for his four children to grow up in a country where peace and equality are cherished; and his descriptions of great geographical landmarks of the U.S. He utilized two refrains in his address - `I Have a Dream’ and `Let Freedom Ring.’ Both are used several times. The speech is easy to understand and can evoke one to tears in its emotional, honest tone and rhythm. King’s enduring and wonderful speech that day – August 28, 1963 - included the following opening words: `I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”And later, “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.” Georgia is where King was born; it’s ironic the Lincoln statue is made of Georgia Marble. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Don’t all parents wish that? “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. (Isaiah 40:4-5).Of his hopes for a better future, he read lyrics to `My Country `Tis of Thee: “This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my ather’s died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” “So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that! Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!” And might I humbly add, let freedom ring in the Land of Enchantment – New Mexico. King, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, ended his speech as follows: “When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty we are free at last!”

Amen to that!