Dr. King Deserves More News Coverage than Angie's Ugly Green Dress

Did anyone else find it sad that there was more talk about who was wearing what at the Golden Globes last night than the fact that it was Martin Luther King Jr Day?  I will admit that I did not go to any MLK festivities today, but for the love of pete, enough about Angelina Jolie's long sleeve jewel tone dress.  I really don't care.  Clearly the studio paid someone off for her crappy movie to have been nominated. (...by the way in the "comedy" category? Just because people are laughing at your movie doesn't make it a comedy.) So I really, really don't care about her ugly dress.  Matt Lauer and his "news" colleagues should be ashamed of themselves.

That said, the only thing that did make the news about the holiday this morning was that a small group of people led by a local NAACP leader were protesting the fact that Charlotte schools were using this day as a make-up day for one of the 3 1/2 snow days that happened last week.  He called Charlotte a "racist bastion" because kids had to go to school.  Um, seems a little over the top.  Let me get this straight.  People are mad because kids are learning in school instead of home playing video games all day?  Now if a family had planned to attend an MLK event today, that's great.  But how many parents had that on the agenda today?  Not many, I'm guessing.   Heck, many people had to work today.   I would think that if we could ask Dr. King where kids should be today, he would be delighted to have them in school, learning about his message and his legacy.  So good job to the small group of protesters who managed to completely overshadow the meaning and the spirit of this day.  What did you teach your kids today?

  "Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."  - Martin Luther King, Jr.


I remember having to memorize excerpts from his "I Have a Dream Speech" in 7th grade, I think it was.  Hearing it now, the speech still resonates.  He was an inspiring man.  I can't help but wonder how different our society would be now if his life had not been cut too short.  It was hard finding a YouTube video of his speech that did not have horrifyingly bigoted and hateful remarks somewhere in the public comments.  Very sad.  Clearly, his work is unfinished.