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Marking MLKing Day and The Inauguration with Diverse Celebrations

Michelle and I blogged together:

Amidst accessible pomp and circumstance, a president was again inaugurated peacefully in America. Partisan politics set aside, everyone gathered to celebrate the freedoms fought for by President Abraham Lincoln and dreamed about by Martin Luther King Jr.
Our President Barak Obama set a high bar: to extend equality to all, across races, religions, national origins and gender. He drew a straight line from Selma to Stonewall, between the struggles for civil rights for blacks and equal rights for gays and lesbians. He pointed us toward our best selves, that part of our nation which strives for liberty and justice for all.

We were Inspired
By the pastor offering blessings who invoked the prophet Micah, goading us to “pursue justice, seek mercy and walk humbly before God”. By the diverse gathering surrounding the president and involved in the official ceremony. And by the realization that once again, the United States achieved a peaceful transition from one presidential term to another.

How does one mark this multifaceted day of celebration?

We chose to venture down to Santa Monica to walk amongst the most diverse community around. Framed by the beach on the west side and the unique beachfront properties and Venice vendors on the east, we enjoyed the cacophony of sights, sounds and smells as people rollerbladed, biked and tossed frisbees. It was a tapestry of color.

We were especially touched by a recently painted mural “From the city of angels to the angels of Connecticut.” The names of the children killed in Sandy Hook, CT were spray painted on the mural to mark their memory and as a demonstration of American support for them and their families. If it is a civil right to be safe from gun fun violence, how do we achieve this and when?

B’tzelem Elohim, Created in the Image of God
Genesis teaches us that we were all created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God. We find it perplexing that we still struggle to translate that vision I worthiness and equality of all people into policies and practices that protect us all. May the memory of MLKing and the actions of Barak Obama bring us closer to the day when all will be united in peace and friendship.

That’s how we marked Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the Presidential Inauguration.

How did you?

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