Watch Dr. King's I Have A Dream Speech.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEMXaTktUfA
Dear All,
Today marks the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington, the historical event that set the stage for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have A Dream Speech. This evening many of us will be watching Senator Barack Obama share his thoughts on what it means to be the first Black man to lead a major party's bid for the White House.
What does August 28th mean to you and your family?
Have you created any art, poetry, music, prayers, rituals, or other creative expression to honor these sacred events? If so, please share in the comment section.
This afternoon I was inspired to write a poetical reflection about August 28th. See below. I also recorded it on the first Gabcast.com episode of That Which Awakens Me: A Woman's Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery. To listen to the recording, click here: www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&query=&b=play&id=2....
Enjoy the history making moments of August 28th and continue to affirm the safety, sanity, healing, and restoration of everyone impacted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Keep those in New Orleans surrounded by love and light as they navigate the current hurricane season.
Have a peaceful long weekend!
Peace and Creativity,
Ananda
Reflections on August 28, 2008, and My Definition of Power by Ananda Leeke
Copyright 2008 by Madelyn C. Leeke.
Excerpt from That Which Awakens Me: A Woman's Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery (iUniverse, Inc. – December 2008)
August 28, 2008. Today marks the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington in 1963.
August 28, 2008. What a special day it is! My family is intimately connected to this date because right before Dr. King stood on stage at the Washington Monument, my grandfather rushed my mother to Columbia Women's Hospital to give birth to my eldest brother Michael David Leeke.
August 28, 2008. What a special year it is! Illinois Senator Barack Obama has become the first Black man to lead a major party's bid for the White House.
August 28, 2008. What a special time to reflect! I am struck with a host of emotions: faith, excitement, hope, gratitude, mindfulness, and awareness.
Faith in Spirit to move humanity forward in a positive ways that promote love, peace, respect, freedom, health, creativity, and equal distribution of resources and opportunities.
Excitement for what Americans are choosing to be and will become.
Hope for positive change that benefits everyone.
Gratitude to Spirit, angels, and the ancestors who made it possible for us to see today.
Mindfulness for how I want to love and live, share my gifts through service, and interact with others.
Awareness of what power used to mean to me and a new quest to understand what power can be when I dream with an open heart and commitment to service like Dr. King.
August 28, 2008. I am thinking about what power used to mean to me. The first time I expressed my idea of power was in a journal that my Aunt Paulyne gave me after I received the sacrament of Holy Communion at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Landover, Maryland. I wrote:Dear God, Why can't I have my way?. Those words were the only ones that filled the pages of my journal. Looking back at my seven year old girl self, I wonder what made me question God about having my own way. Perhaps it was my longstanding need to be the one with power. Who knows?
As I grew into a young woman, I became obsessed with gaining power to minimize race and gender oppression that I knew I would encounter as a Black woman. My goals were centered on obtaining the best education, traveling the world, having a career that allowed me to lead at high levels, achieving financial success, having my own business, and owning property. These goals drove my desire to become a lawyer.
My path to becoming a lawyer started while I was 15 and attending St. Elizabeth Ann Seton High School, an all-girls Catholic high school in Bladensburg, Maryland, where the nuns reiterated what my mother taught me: women have to be twice as better than men in order to succeed. I added this message to the wisdom that my parents, grandparents, family elders, and adult mentors shared with me: Black people have to be ten times better than white people in order to succeed. These messages were deeply embedded in my psyche. Truth be told, parts of these messages still maintain a stronghold on my life.
For the past several years I have been wondering how I can redefine power and incorporate it into my life in a way that allows me to breathe freely, live peacefully, express myself authentically, interact with others more openly, and feel more safe within myself while living in America without having an obsession to protect myself from race and gender oppression. What a mouthful! It's a question that my 43 year old self poses regularly in my dreams. I've been keeping notes on the revelations. Now I need to take the time to weave them together into a quilt that represents my new life truth.
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