Had the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., survived the struggles of the civil rights movement and gone on to lead a long, healthy life, he would be waking up this weekend to his eighty-second birthday. Instead, we have a national holiday in his name, and we celebrate his memory.
Keeping that memory alive will always be important to me. It is important to me just as it ought to be to any other African-American -- to any other American, period, really. But it is especially important to me because it takes me back to so many things I learned at the dinner table as a child.
Yes, we actually used to sit around the dinner table as a family -- both parents and four children -- and we would talk about the issues of the day. Imagine that. And it was nothing unusual for the topic of race relations to be a focal point.
To my parents, Martin Luther King was not some faraway figure on the page of a newspaper or the screen of a television. He was someone they had known. They had marched with him in the streets of Alabama when I was just a baby, and King had even baptized my two older brothers.
Most of what I have learned about the history of the civil rights movement has come from books and television. But the feelings of people who actually experienced the bus boycotts, the fire hoses being turned on them, the senseless beatings and killings -- those are the intense feelings I picked up from my parents at a very young age.
Once I was old enough to understand, my mother would tell me: "It was a time of sacrifice. But sometimes if you want to make things better, you have to sacrifice first."
Some of the sacrifices were unspeakable. One of my father's closest friends was a man named Chris McNair. His little girl, Denise, was one of four children killed in a 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
Clearly, the concept of sacrifice for the betterment of others -- for the betterment of our nation as a whole -- is a pretty good place to start when celebrating the memory of Martin Luther King.
Another topic that needs to be at the forefront of any conversation related to King is the vital importance of education. King would undoubtedly be proud of the way some African-Americans have stressed school, but overall I'm afraid he'd be pretty disappointed.
Back in the 1960s blacks were hardly even allowed to participate in the political process, but they sure knew the issues of the day. Now we can vote all we want, but do we even have the education to understand the issues?
Our young people should not be offended by the idea of reading books. They should be reading all the books they can get their hands on. We simply must do a better job of educating ourselves.
Finally, if we are truly going to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, then we need to stress the importance of community service. We need to give of ourselves in order to address social ills such as hunger, poverty, and homelessness.
We need to come together -- across all lines and divisions that too often keep us apart -- and we need to embrace solutions that will bring broad benefits for all. That is why I'm so excited about a special program -- in honor of Martin Luther King -- that I will be part of on the eve of Martin Luther King Day at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
It is called America's Sunday Supper. Just like the dinner conversations of my youth, the idea is to initiate conversation -- thousands of conversations across the country, actually -- focused on the most pressing social issues we face in our communities. Thanks to the efforts of an organization called HandsOn Network, more than a thousand volunteers will lead similar thought-provoking and action-inspiring meals across the nation.
Sometimes I wonder how Martin Luther King would feel about where we have come as a nation. Sunday night will certainly be one of those times when I can't help but think about that.
Carl Lewis was voted "Sportsman of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee and is a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. To attend America's Sunday Supper login to a live webcast of the event this Sunday through www.HandsOnNetwork.org.
Robert Kuttner: Consolation and Inspiration From Dr. King
Your words speak volumes and should be heard from coast to coast. Racism is still prevalent in todays society despite decades of progress. I experienced such racism with you in Florida when we worked together at a charity event.
Every year on Martin Luther King Day, I would tell my four kids the meaning of this holiday.
Judge people on the content of their character and not on the color of their skin.
Hopefully, families across the country of all races and religions will heed these words as they sit down for dinner together.
My kids are all adults now and hopefully this message will be carried to the next generation.
Best Always
Bob Ackley
Southboro, Mass
One thing you mentioned that I think is part of the problem with Americans: no longer do most families sit around the dinner table.
There were huge benefits to everyone sitting at the dinner table nightly, with the father at the head of the table leading the discussion, topics including talking about each family member's day and interesting events in the news.
Now there's no sense of family or belonging, that occurred in part because families stopped getting together every night.
I'm a firm believer that who we are (our mental makeup, so to speak) is a product of the home and the dinner table. It was where moms and dads could express interest in what the kids are doing, work through problems, and stay connected as a "family unit" (so that later should things go to h--ell in a hand basket we can always feel comforted that our family is still there for us).
Coincidence Moment: Just a couple days ago I was talking about you to Claudette Groenendaal. While we were talking I mentioned she needed to get a Wikipedia page. I then said "Carl Lewis has a great Wikipedia page" and we took a look at it while on the phone.
I then asked "What is Carl doing nowadays?" And here you are two days later with an article on HP! Surreal.
Makes me miss those days sitting at the dinner table talking about current events with the family.
I hope all is well with you and yours..
Nice to hear your voice get involved
Thanks.
Steve
It's so nice to hear that Carl Lewis, one of the most amazing people to have walked (run) this earth has the depth of character he does; that he is so mindful of the sacrifices that have been made, the work that needs to be done and that he is engaged in bringing attention to the needs of a society that need to be addressed and dealt with in order to make things better.
Regarding family dinners . . . when I was growing up . . . we had them every night. In retrospect, I see that the time spent at the dinner table is quite likely where much of our learning took place; manners, communication, respect, values, history, current events, . . . . the list goes on . . .
As we entered this new year of 2011, I read an article in the newspaper that stressed the importance of families sitting down to dinner on the nights of those days "ending in Y". Imagine that.
I haven't seen you since 1987 Alabama Sports Festival games... Thank You for your perspective.