March with Someone Different Than You
Racial reconciliation is one of the most important conversations taking place in America in this generation. Our family wanted to add our voices–and our feet to this conversation, so we took part in today’s Capitol March for the Dream.
We marched with about 29,000 people as did many others from our church and churches across the Sacramento
Region. Organizers encouraged participants to strike up conversations across racial lines. We enjoyed meeting several people we might never have met otherwise.
The celebratory atmosphere and the joyful interactions made the event a lot of fun. I observed parents explaining to children the importance of the day’s events. Why all these people were out in a drizzly cold morning carrying signs and singing along with Pharell William’s “Happy” and Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.”
We heard snippets of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech as the crowd erupted in cheers. We heard a local pastor sharing that true freedom only comes through reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. When the Son sets you free, you are “free at last” indeed.
This group of marchers carried signs that said, “Black Lives Matter,” “Young Lives Matter,” “Latino Lives Matter” and along with the more specific signs was this one that sums it up perfectly: “All Lives Matter”
One of my favorite signs of the march read, “March with Someone Different Than You.” And that, in a nutshell, was the goal of the day.
It’s easy to walk with those who are just like me. Those who think like I do and share my values and beliefs. It takes courage and empathy to walk with those who are different, who don’t believe what I do or hold to my values.
Today we celebrated the life and passion of a man who believed it possible for people of all races to live together in harmony and equality, not just tolerating but embracing diversity.
I hope I wake up tomorrow in a world that has moved just a little closer to seeing Martin Luther King Jr’s dream come true.
