Sunday, January 17, 2021

Monday,Martin Luther King Day!

 

I so remember  the death of Martin Luther King.  We were in school and the teachers were crying. The only time I remember teachers crying was when we were sent home from school in the middle of the day when John F. Kennedy was shot. So I knew in my 10 year old mind  someone had been killed.  We were sent home and I remember my parents and grandmother at the dining table talking about it.

We really did not understand prejudice. It was not something taught or tolerated in our home.  There were really no black people in Missoula Montana, except at the University and then you could count them on one hand.  We were just taught to be respectful of all adults.

Hubs tells the story of a black family coming in on the bus to Wieser Idaho.  His grandparents ran the bus station and the grill.  So there was no segregation of bathrooms or drinking fountains.  People were people. One black family in particular were standing outside the grill and they obviously wanted to eat, but they stood outside until my Hubs grandmother invited them in.  They went clear to the back where it was the hottest and no fans could reach them. She insisted they move forward where they would be more comfortable.  The farmers and people of Wieser held no prejudice, but one man who had come in on the bus started to throw a fit and Hub's grandfather softly and kindly told him that they did not behave that way in these parts. This man cussed and swore and a couple of farmers escorted him out into the hot sunshine to eat.  Hubs grandmother always said their was nothing worse than white trash as they had all the advantages of being white and did not use those advantages to better themselves.

I have read several books on Martin Luther King, and I believe he was a great man. It saddens me that as a nation we are still dealing with some of the problems we had 50 years ago.  Bobby Kennedy was shot a few months later. It was a terrible time in our nation.  The shooting of Our President and then Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy left a lasting impression on my childhood.  Do any of you remember these events?  What were your feelings?

Had a quiet Sunday.  Cooked a big roast with potatoes and carrots for dinner.  Schmills was just going to have chocolate cake but decided the meat smelled good, and he loves smashed potatoes, thus preventing a knock down drag out with his mother.

Daughter and I took a good long walk today.  It was lovely.  I ripped open the shoulders of two of a missionary  suit coats as he has lost 40 lbs and they are way too big.  Taking in the shoulders is very hard and you need to have a great deal of experiences to do this kind of tailoring.  But now that they are ripped I will get them done and in the mail as he was transferred to Spokane. I have several zippers to do again and some sleeves to shorten, and pants to hem. Every time I think I am about out of work it starts to trickle in.

I sure hope that they get to have proms this year. But they have had to close down night skiing here because people will not wear masks. At this point I don't see how things are going to be any different in April and May.  People are just not planning weddings yet as too many have had to cancel.

I will fill my two savings envelopes tomorrow plus my $1, $5, $10,$20 challenge and then whatever is leftover I will put on my bill for the month.  I might be saving too much money if I can't get the debt goals paid.   January  and February have always been slow months for the shop, so I won't let myself get discouraged.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

26 comments:

  1. I was in the 11th grade and in study hall when the announcement came over the intercom that JFK had been killed. I was in shock. In the halls the football players were bawling like babies.

    On April 4, 1968, I was 12 days from delivering a baby. For the first time ever, my husband and I drove to the northern part of Memphis. When it came over the TV that King had been shot, we left as fast as we could, driving through a predominantly black area. I told my husband to get me out of there, go over curbs, anything. I always made him drive over railroad tracks at a creep, but I held my stomach and ignored the pain. If we had waited another ten minutes, we would have had to go east and north of Memphis, then south to Mississippi and back west to where we lived in Southaven, Ms. That day was the scariest of my life.

    When Bobby was killed, I had nightmares that my husband did it.

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  2. The “backstory” that local folks know about the Selma March to Montgomery, but few others know, is that events leading to the march really started in Marion, Alabama. Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young unarmed black man, was killed by a state trooper, because blacks were meeting to organize a peaceful protest. This murder was one of the reasons King came to Selma and organized the March. I cross the Pettus bridge frequently, because I have to come up to Selma frequently, as our headquarters are located at the Dallas County Courthouse. The state trooper was not prosecuted for years, and my boss, who is currently one of two black district attorneys ( my black friends get mad if I use the term African American. because they say we are all Americans) in the state, prosecuted the state trooper 40 yrs later because previous DA’s refused to, and state trooper was finally brought to justice. There is a monument to Jimmie Lee Jackson at the Perry County Courthouse in Marion, Perry County, Alabama. I am told he preferred to spell his name as Jimmie, instead of Jimmy, but some history books have it spelled “Jimmy.” The Selma March to Montgomery is reenacted the first week of March in Selma every year.

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    1. I find it ironic that blacks are still treated so poorly. I just don't know what to do about it, but fight one fight at a time.

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  3. A lot has changed over the years but there is still so much that needs to change.

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  4. I was too young to remember these events but my sophomore year of college was the first MLK holiday. I was in the hospital with baby 3 on MLK and remember watching a service with her in my arms. She’s my social justice fighter!

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  5. Our family was terrified as my brother had been attending several events on his behalf and since that was before cell phone we couldn't get a hold of him. Our family has several races.

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  6. It pre-dates me, but I'm sad to see how things I really thought were in our past are back & being re-debated.

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  7. Thanks for sharing this memory from Hub's past, Kim. We, too, grew up with no attention to color. Went to Catholic grade school & several kids in my class were POC - maybe 5 in a class of 25. Still keep in touch with them to this day. Had several black friends to my wedding. Remember a black family moving into our all-white neighborhood in the suburbs when I was 10-12. Many of the neighbors were up in arms about it. Neither I nor my 7 siblings could figure out what the big deal was. My parents never even commented on this. It wasn't "out of the ordinary" for us or them. People were people. Didn't matter their color as long as they were good people, took care of their home & their kids. And we all feel that way to this day. This country sure does have a ways to go, though. We ALL need to continue to treat ALL people with kindness, courtesy & respect. RIP, Mr. King.

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    1. I don't understand it, this has always been foriegn to me.

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  8. This was before my time, not too much though and so I grew up learning all about him. What saddens me is the state of our society today. All this man and his friends fought and died for is being destroyed.. He would be so upset at the state of things today...

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    1. It is like things have not gotten any better. They have in some ways, but not many.

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  9. I was too young to know about the assassinations, but I think it is sad that things haven't really changed that much in 50+ years. I had hoped that once the older generations passed on, that there would be less prejudice. :(
    I told my mil that I didn't think that Jesus sees color...don't think she appreciated that much.

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    1. It is just such a hard concept for me to wrap my head around.

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  10. I was only about 6 months old when President Kennedy was shot and 5 years old when Mr. King was shot. I don't remember it, but I have seen videos of Mr. King speaking. He was a true leader and we could use his voice of reason today.

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  11. I was a third grader when Kennedy was shot and I was home watching television when Oswald was shot in the stomach by Ruby. It did impact me. Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy, I was 12 years old. It all effected me. Still does.

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  12. Thank you for this timely reminder of a great man. J.P. in the UK

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  13. I can remember when MLK and both Kennedy's were assasinated. I even remember when Winston Churchill died. My Mom did up scrap books of all the news articles for each of those deaths. I have them all somewhere and will look them up.

    All four of those men were great in their own way.

    God bless.

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