20 January 2025
It’s Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I won’t watch the inauguration. I’ve seen one or two in my 76 years (TV only) and they are pretty much the same. The only difference this time is it is in the Rotunda of the Capitol due to inclement weather.
There will be speeches on Martin Luther King, Jr. day but it’s hard to listen to them if you’ve ever heard MLK speechify. I remember watching his “I Have Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
I was at Ole Miss and watched when he addressed the garbage men who were striking in Memphis when he gave his “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top” speech. Both sent chills down my spine but the one in Memphis led me to believe he knew his time on earth was short. He was assassinated the next day.
Great speeches are hard to beat. These two by MLK are some of the best I’ve heard. Winston Churchill rallied the British people with his “Fight Them on the Beaches….” speech. William Jennings Bryan electrified the Democratic National Convention with his “Cross of Gold” speech in such a way they nominated him for President even though he wasn’t running. And he did it without a sound system.
I confess to never hearing Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. A little before my time. However, we had to learn the speech and say it in front of the class. That probably sounds a little strange to Southerners like me whose state didn’t celebrate Lincoln’s birthday for years after the Civil War. To this day I can still recall portions of the address.
I do remember hearing John F. Kennedy’s Presidential address where he asked “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Quite the challenge that.
When MLK was assassinated, I watched Bobby Kennedy calm a crowd with one of the most moving and personal speeches. He related how he had lost a brother. It so moved the crowd, they disbanded in an orderly fashion.
Spoken words have a great deal of power – both for good and for bad. I don’t speak German – it’s a difficult language for me – but you don’t have to when you watch speeches by Adolf Hitler and how they captured the crowds in the Reichstag and at Nuremberg.
An old childhood saying is “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” That is not true. Words can and do hurt. As a kid, I was on the receiving end of many hurtful words and it colors the way you live your life.
I admit to using hurtful words myself. In anger, all reasoning goes out the window. However, I’m slow to anger so I tend to be very measured in my words to others. I’m not always successful, but I do try.
It’s a rainy day.
That gave me an excuse not to walk this morning, be lazy with breakfast and the crossword puzzles, and get this blog written. I’ll probably order some groceries today and maybe pick up a prescription or two but otherwise vegetate. The rain gods have decreed!
Stay tuned!