In Remembrance

[Steve]

I confess that I sometimes get a little too sentimental, and perhaps not a little too wordy, but for these past some weeks I have been waiting for this day to put into writing thoughts that had been circling my head while at work and other occasions. And considering the nature of this day, and the purpose for which it was made a holiday, I hope that this can be considered an attempt to memorialize those whom we all owe a great debt to, though I know that mere words can often be empty in sincerity.

Anyway....




The Tree of Liberty must be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. - Thomas Jefferson, from a letter written in 1787

Nearly 220 years have passed since this quote was made. And Jefferson was right. Since this time, many Americans have died on battlefields across the ground to keep Liberty alive. And they have, rightfully, been recognized for their sacrifices, and are accorded all due honor to slain patriots.

There is another kind of patriot. They did not march into battle with weapons and die in combat as soldiers. Rather, they marched without any weapon save their courage, and were slain not by a foreign evil but by one present in the hearts and minds of their own countrymen. This sickening evil was racism, a despicable idea that not all men are alike in their capacity for reason, mercy, and courage, and thus worth. Like a cancer it had fixed itself to a part of the national body, and resisted viciously all attempts at cure.

Yet it was cured. By the actions and sacrifices of citizens, patriots, who recognized evil where they saw it, the forces of bigotry were routed, and this nation rose to it's greatest height as it finally realized the ideals which it had been established on: that "all Men are created equal" and "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". These people were the great heroes of their time, and through their actions, inspired an entire nation to end the inequities forced upon their fellow citizens by the misguided and the malicious alike. Their motto was "We shall Overcome".... and they did, something which we must all be thankful for.

On this day, we honor the man who led their movement. And by honoring Dr. King, we also honor those who fell before him and with him, those who endured the water cannons and attack dogs, the raised batons, the ridicule and abuse, and all those who were struck down by the powerful and cowardly.

I regret that I can recall but a few of their names, for I know there were many, and they all deserve rememberance.

So I ask of you to remember these names, and think of those left unspoken, for they gave their precious blood so that the tree of liberty might bear fruit for future generations.

In Memory Of:
Dr. Martin L. King Jr.
Medgar Evers
James Chaney
Michael Schwerner
Andrew Goodman
Viola Liuzzo
And so many others....

"The sacrifice which they collectively made was individually repaid to them; for they received again each one for himself a praise which grows not old, and the noblest of all tombs, I speak not of that in which their remains are laid, but of that in which their glory survives, and is proclaimed always and on every fitting occasion both in word and deed." - the Funeral Oration of Pericles (son of Xanthippus)

[Joe]

Call for a Moment of Silence.

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