April 4

My friend Diana once told me about her moving to the South as a teenager. It was during the sixties and she had never really been exposed to segregation. One night, she was riding around with friends when they stopped at a gas station to get drinks. Diana remained in the car while her friends went inside. While she sat there waiting, she noticed a sign on the door of a Laundromat located next to the gas station. “No Coloreds.” When her friends returned to the car, Diana remarked to them that she didn’t understand why a Laundromat would only allow you to wash your whites, and how would they know if you snuck in a load of coloreds? Her friends just shook their heads and began to explain…

If you have a chance to read Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, you should do so today. If you don’t have a chance to read Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, make the time. It is simple and forthright. And it makes you realize that yes, there may come a time in your life when you are faced with an ethical dilemma that must be dealt with. And although you may not feel ready to deal with the dilemma, you know that you have to make a stand that may be unpopular, uncomfortable, or dangerous in order to make it right. So you do it. And hopefully you find support along the way.