Today was always a hard day for my mother when she was alive. Today is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King. My mother would always say this was a bittersweet day for her bitter because she knew where she was when she heard the news of Dr. King's assassination. I can only imagine her grief in my eyes. My mother was a strong woman, and I had only seen her cry. One time
that was the morning of the launch of the space shuttle Challenger. I was home from school that morning and was obsessed with watching the shuttle launch. She was in the kitchen, watching her television by this time, all of the major networks had stopped broadcasting the launch of the space shuttles. So I watched it on public television. The shuttle launched on time, rolled on its back, and in the words still haunt me "Challenger. You have permission for throttle up!! There was a pop in the sky rained down with parts of the Challenger
I screamed to my mother. "Mama the space shuttle just blew up!!... stop playing stew!"... as she turned to the channel by now every network had started broadcasting it by the time I got into the kitchen. She had tears streaming down her face. There were no words from her mouth. Just silence and eerie silence...
that was the most devastating thing my generation had seen up until the terrorist attacks on 9/11. But every year, looking back at April 4. I wonder what my mother's generation was going through and their leader was struck down by an assassin's bullet I can only imagine the devastation she felt. She never really talked about it. She just told me that I was the sweet part in this bittersweet day because I was born two weeks later to the day. She would ask me "Tucker, how old are you boy!"... I would say my age, and then she would tell me "do you know that two weeks ago to the day. They murdered a king."... as children often do, I would ask that inevitable question that sometimes has no answers... why. Why did they do that... her reply was always "I don't know sweetheart I will never understand man's inhumanity to man"...
by this time my father would be around and he would say "but you don't grieve for that man. He was never afraid to die that's right son good old Martin was probably looking right at that cracker. When he pulled the trigger and Martin was probably laughing, because Martin knew his work was done, because you can't kill a journey that we have to take"...
so a few weeks ago I ordered this documentary that you see above, because I want to get in the mindset I want to feel what my parents felt. It's an incredible documentary, probably the best one I have ever seen but it left me asking more questions. Not of the documentary about my mother and father
what would they think today 40 years later, we have a black man and a white woman almost steps from ascending to the highest office. It just seems so surreal watching white police officers make their dogs attack black people. And now 40 years later, things have changed so much. At least from my perspective, I can only imagine if they were alive, including Dr. King would what they think
I know one thing I do have my fathers in my brother's state of mind I don't fear death I don't fear any man. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or I'm becoming more like the men I admire... so today for me as my father told me will be no tears for Dr. King. Just a deep admiration and a silent prayer
that was the morning of the launch of the space shuttle Challenger. I was home from school that morning and was obsessed with watching the shuttle launch. She was in the kitchen, watching her television by this time, all of the major networks had stopped broadcasting the launch of the space shuttles. So I watched it on public television. The shuttle launched on time, rolled on its back, and in the words still haunt me "Challenger. You have permission for throttle up!! There was a pop in the sky rained down with parts of the Challenger
I screamed to my mother. "Mama the space shuttle just blew up!!... stop playing stew!"... as she turned to the channel by now every network had started broadcasting it by the time I got into the kitchen. She had tears streaming down her face. There were no words from her mouth. Just silence and eerie silence...
that was the most devastating thing my generation had seen up until the terrorist attacks on 9/11. But every year, looking back at April 4. I wonder what my mother's generation was going through and their leader was struck down by an assassin's bullet I can only imagine the devastation she felt. She never really talked about it. She just told me that I was the sweet part in this bittersweet day because I was born two weeks later to the day. She would ask me "Tucker, how old are you boy!"... I would say my age, and then she would tell me "do you know that two weeks ago to the day. They murdered a king."... as children often do, I would ask that inevitable question that sometimes has no answers... why. Why did they do that... her reply was always "I don't know sweetheart I will never understand man's inhumanity to man"...
by this time my father would be around and he would say "but you don't grieve for that man. He was never afraid to die that's right son good old Martin was probably looking right at that cracker. When he pulled the trigger and Martin was probably laughing, because Martin knew his work was done, because you can't kill a journey that we have to take"...
so a few weeks ago I ordered this documentary that you see above, because I want to get in the mindset I want to feel what my parents felt. It's an incredible documentary, probably the best one I have ever seen but it left me asking more questions. Not of the documentary about my mother and father
what would they think today 40 years later, we have a black man and a white woman almost steps from ascending to the highest office. It just seems so surreal watching white police officers make their dogs attack black people. And now 40 years later, things have changed so much. At least from my perspective, I can only imagine if they were alive, including Dr. King would what they think
I know one thing I do have my fathers in my brother's state of mind I don't fear death I don't fear any man. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or I'm becoming more like the men I admire... so today for me as my father told me will be no tears for Dr. King. Just a deep admiration and a silent prayer
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