"Three Men Color Study" Copyright 2011 Totsymae
Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s works with a memorial was postponed in D.C. ’cause Mother Nature was doing her thing. Nature can be a powerful thing, any way you look at it, can’t it? I hope you and loved ones escaped Irene. I’m just turning the news on to catch up on what’s going on out there. Stay safe. Please.
Now, I know there are some folk out there hemming and hawing about why we all the time gotta be building stuff and honoring this man but for the wonderers out there, as cliche as it sounds, we can’t thank Dr. King enough. You’d have to turn your mind inside out to fully understand the fruits of his labors. Folks may not wanna exercise their minds that way, so there lies the perpetual bafflement.
I don’t know about you but I see a country divided. We’ve got a lot of shit to sit down and figure out. Folks at a stalemate, threatening to shut down the government weeks ago and all that kinda dumbness. Passion for the country’s taking a different turn, so we’re all waiting to see what happens. The little folks, like you and me got power of the word, if we write, voice, if we speak and the vote, that I hope you use (deep sigh).
That’s a beautiful sculpture of Dr. King, if I have to say so myself. Fifteen years in the making. Hmph. Interesting timing, ain’t it? Every time I think of Dr. King, my mind goes to Stevie Wonder. I think of him as a musical prophet. I simply love every piece of music he’s ever put out. I’m gonna leave you with one of my favorites by him. And no, he ain’t singing the birthday song.
I'm an artist who's writing,mothering, blogging and doing a few other things under the sun. I buy toilet paper 99.9% of every trip I make to the grocery store. I'm a people watcher, so I know you're here but drop me a line anyway.
–Let me just say right off….”Reality Does Suck” At least mine does after Kay….
but like you say, Tots, you and me got power of the word & of the voice!
This is a gift. This brings awarenss. We can all be a (little) like MLK with our VOICE.
You got the gift, babe! xxxxxx Kiss
You’re right. Reality does suck, that Kay’s no longer here. I feel
like if we were in the same state, the three of us would’ve been
hanging out and loving life to this day.
Yes, the word is powerful and you’ve brought a realness to a
topic that people need to be very aware of. You’re a gift and
I’m glad we’ve met.
Love and hugs!
Totsy Mae, If nothing else, you gave me an opportunity to reflect. Thank you for the gift.
Yes, I’m doing that a bit this weekend myself.
You’re welcome.
Good thoughts here Totsymae. It’s an interesting phenomenon about humans and history isn’t it? The more time goes by, and if we were not LIVING that particular bit of history ourselves, we don’t quite fully gasp the significance of someone’s sacrifices and commitment to making the world a better place. We see it as a better place now because they aren’t the way they WERE. They aren’t perfect, but they are BETTER. Still have lots of work to do. But I agree, MLK deserve how ever many statues anyone wants to make.
Glad you think so, Michael Ann. Yes, a lot of work is before us.
Hurricane Irene is definitely something serious. I live in the NYC area, and I’m happy I have electricity right now. It’s flooded everywhere, but I’m happy I’m surviving the winds that are currently whipping around. I also love the monument made in honor of Dr. King. He was an amazing person and his ideals of equality will live on forever. Love Steve Wonder.. great song and post.
Glad to hear you’re safe.
Yes, the monument is powerful and stands for so many different things. I’ve always enjoyed
Stevie’s music. Don’t hear much like his anymore.
I live in the D.C. area and was planning on stopping by for the ceremonies. Irene really put a dent in the plans, and we got hammered pretty bad by the rains and winds, with quite a few still without power here. But all that aside, I have to agree with your words about the craziness. Sometimes we’re like a big family that loves to fight all the time about the petty stuff. It’s a shame it takes something as big a tragedy as 9/11 to remind us we’re all in the same house and we really all are first and foremost brothers and sisters.
But look at us all here on your blog Totsy, people from all over the world and backgrounds just having a conversation, sometimes disagreeing respectfully, but mostly having a good time. Is it because we’re all afraid of pissing Totsy off? Maybe, but if you ask me, I just think that there’s a lot of fondness for each other here running underneath it all.
Sure we see the drama on TV news and talking heads spouting off their flavor of hate and imagine it to be a 24/7 thing really dividing us, and maybe there are some kooks out there for sure who really do hate. I won’t deny that, but I still believe the overwhelming majority of folks are good people just trying to make their way through life. I’ve got to believe that. In the end, good always wins out. It has to.
Peace and love to you Totsy. I’ll grab some pictures of the sculpture and send them your way. Heck, maybe I’ll blog about it.
Yes, I did think of the blogging communities being able to touch on different topics and learning from one another as a result of the exchange. No need for anyone to feel inhibited in what they say because of me. As long as no one is mean-spirited, I’m cool. I enjoy the company over here.
I wanna believe the good folk are in the majority too and yes, we must believe that or there’s no point. Every now and then, we do need the wake-up call and 9.11 was a very tragic one. We’re still suffering from it, from my perspective but we’ve always been survivors. But we don’t want to JUST survive.
And do share photos on your blog of the monument. Cool.
Peace and love back at cha, Phil.
I am so sorry Mother Nature ruined the MLK Memorial ceremony. I grew up in the Washington DC area. I remember one day when my Mom was 9 months pregnant and I was 6, she told me a man was assassinated and people were rioting downtown near where the baby hospital was. That night she went into labor. The streets were blocked off so she and Dad ended up getting to the hospital with the blaring police escort and thus my sister arrived into this world. Funny when history intersects with our lives. I knew nothing about MLK at age six, but I do now. He was a brave and great man. His “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” is a masterpiece that I love. I hope the rescheduled ceremony is a triumph.
Wow, to have that recollection makes you a part of the history. Well, I’m from Dr. King’s hometown. Went to school within walking distance to his home, though he was no longer a resident by that time. Earlier this year, I visited the King Center in Atlanta and it’s always moving to see the imagery and hear his voice. Makes me cry sometimes to listen and think that that time should’ve never been…
But we’re here and exist in the way we do because of him. So, we must continue to work at doing and being better. As Phil mentioned, the dialogue we have in the blogging community from any part of the world closes those gaps with positive communication.
The good news is that Martin Luther King’s iconic leadership and eternal message will reverberate long after Irene’s wreckage is cleared away. Beautiful Colour Study Totsymae -
Quite true, Kelly.
Thanks for stopping by and glad you liked the study.
Love Stevie Wonder and love his activism (and that of countless others) who worked so tirelessly to get the MLK Holiday legislation passed. Good selection.
I was kinda bummed that the unveiling was this weekend as I wanted to go but Irene changed things so hopefully when they announce the new date, I’ll be able to go. I think I’m gonna run down to DC this weekend anyway, and if I do, I’m definitely going to stop by.
Sometimes, I wonder what he’d say about where we are today if he’d been around.
I understand the new date will be set for September or October. My son wants all of us to go. My daughter has a fall break in October, so that would be the most convenient time, so that it’s not such a rushed trip.
I wonder what his perspective would be also. Sometimes, it seems there’s progress and then we go back a few notches. We’re just having some growing pains now, I guess.
I look forward to visiting the monument at some point. It is always good to have historical markers to remind us of history. Fifteen years is a long time in the making. Perserverance is a beautiful thing.
I’d like to visit as well. It’s so massive and perfected. To see it has been
an emotional experience for some people.