MLK Day

Last night was an interesting experience for me and a friend. We went and saw Keith Ellison at Cavalry Church in Minneapolis. He was the keynote speaker for the event and I had certain expectations. I joked about how as long as he says diversity, MLK, and challenges involved with moving forward, he'll have hit the standards for any MLK day speech. However, he didn't. Moreover, I left last night's event unsure about what MLK day really is about.

Last night, I was a little bit embarrassed to be represented by Ellison. His speech was a confusing mash-up of facts about MLK, mixed with constant reminders that he was just like any of you out in the audience. However, it was equally likely that he would say that King wasn't just a man. In the end, the speech didn't go anywhere. Again it left me unsure what MLK day was about. From Ellison, I would have taken away that we should be offended by the government's attempts to subvert King. Americorps encourages the it to be a day of service. However, I'm unsure that watching movies and setting up a rec center for a community party was what King had in mind when he talked about community action. This is residual from my childhood, but I guess I thought it was a day to celebrate either the progress made by King in regard to racism or some other factor involving race. Anyway... I guess the easy (and lazy) answer is that MLK day is what each individual makes of it, but it seems more that King was just a guy that few people my age know anything about other than what we've read which I don't think can recreate the emotion that seems to have inspired the holiday. Maybe people who experienced it see the holiday differently, but I can't speak to that. I imagine that for most it is just a day off and no one is complaining about that.