MLK Day

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This year's Martin Luther King Jr. Day seems to pack more weight than usual.

It shouldn't because the need for King's message has never dropped; however, I'm not sure we've paid the proper level of attention.

In his quote, "The time is always right to do what is right," I want to focus on the verb.

Do is what we need.  The collective we, as a country, need to act - to do the things that make the United States a "more perfect union" for all citizens.  

In some cases that requires legislation on the local, state and national level.  In other cases it requires changes in attitude.  There are many of us with the right attitude, but if it only remains a state of mind, then no one gets help reaching their goal.

The great difficulty with racism as with other weighty topics is that no magic wand is large enough to erase years of neglect and abuse or wipe the slate clean of existing prejudice.  

It's an incremental process which will always be too slow.  That's not an excuse or reason to give up or throw up our hands in frustration.  Hopefully it acts as a spur under the saddle for each of us to act where we can, however we can.

It is time to DO!