And we still aren't satisfied
The power of King's words are such that even reading them on the Internet doesn't distill their power. But if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, and not going to be watching a video of the man in person today, you best bet is to skip the rallies and speeches and head to the Martin Luther King memorial in San Francisco's Yerba Buena park. The huge waterfall, has a path behind it where you can walk and read King quotes (some more inspiring than others) in thirteen different languages and look out at the city. It's the second largest King memorial in the country, after Atlanta's.
I went there yesterday, depressed about the upcoming likely confirmation of Samuel J. Alito, the truely scary people-hating power-loving Supreme Court nominee. Standing under the waterfall felt about right--but the water didn't seem to represent "justice rolling down." No, I thought, we're still in the deluge. Our intolerance is just as potent as it was in 1963, but its target more diffused; immigrants, Arabs, and Muslims have beed added to, not replaced, racism against African-Americans in this country.
Through the breaks in the waterfall, I could see families of all colors, ages, and gender configurations walking by. Perhaps its corny, but the effect worked to lighten my sadness a little. In this time of imperial power, we're left with few weapons: truthful words and committed small actions. These weaposn might not feel like much, but at least they can keep our heads above water.
