I feel so inadequate.....

After having gone to see "Selma" on January 10th with my wife Chapri, while I left feeling encouraged, I also had this sense of inadequacy.  To think about the fact that Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a mere 39 years old when he was assasinated.  I feel that I have had a full and demanding life, but I have not even scratched the surface of all that he accomplished in such a short lifetime....and....he died for ME!
Having seen the movie so close to the holiday that recognizes his legacy, I vowed that I would NOT sleep in this year, nor would I do a full list of "honey do's", I vowed and committed to celebrating his life and legacy on the Holiday set aside to do just that!  And boy did I celebrate!
The day began with an early rise at 5 am in order to get the Magnificent 8 (actually only 7 went) ready and on the road to Ann Arbor so that they coud attend the 17th Anual University of Michigan MLK Children and Youth Program.  From there Chapri and I headed back north to Birmingham for The Community House Race Relations and Diversity Task Force 23rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Breakfast.  I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted as soon as we hit the banquet facility by my friend Howard Baron with an invite to join him at the Bloomfield Hills School District's table.  Along with Howard was a couple other Bloomfield Hills School Board Members, Cynthia vonOeyen and Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed.  In addition to the board representation, also at the table was non other than the Superintendant, Dr. Robert Glass, PhD.  Not only was this a pleasant surprise, but it was also very encouraging as a parent of 8 children in the school district to see this level of participation from the board and senior level staff at this very important event.  The event was a panel discussion on the state of race relations today and the role of media and social media on influencing those relations.  The dialogue was complete with a very tasty breakfast, table discussion and Q&A.  The event was kicked off by Mellody Hobson's TEDTalk "Color blind or color brave?"  I LOVED IT!

From there Chapri and I were set to go see Selma again with the Skillman Foundation but got derailed and ended up having a really deep conversation with another friend around this whole idea of the "Global Learners Initiative" .  We then picked the kids back up from Ann Arbor, while listening to "I have a Dream" podcast and headed to Roeper School in Bloomfield Hills for Martin Luther King, Jr. Candlelight Walk which was precluded by "The Children's March" film screening.  You can find the actual film here.  The event was challenging yet encouraging and very well done!

As I sit now and reflect upon the full experience, I am/was challenged by the impact that the youth had on the original civil rights movement.  As my goatee continues to whiten, I reflect upon Dr. King's age of 39, a young man.  The youth of Birmingham Alabama as outlined in "The Children's March", were ALL school aged.  SNCC, who worked with Dr. King on the coordination of the march on Selma, was the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.  They were students!  The 4 little girls who were victims of the bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church, while EXTREMELY TRAGIC, was instrumental in the movement!

We talk about the naivety of the children or their innocence!  I'm here to tell you that there is NOTHING innocent or naive about the purity of the innocence of the children.  While we are quick to say that they are our future leaders....I'm here to tell you, they are our CURRENT leaders... and I feel so inadequate!