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This is a little something I jotted down back in November o' 2006 when they dedicated the monument to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. up in Washington.
I sure am relieved to hear they's putting up a monument to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Washington D.C. today. 'Specially after hearing that President Jr. said "on this ground, a monument will rise that will preserve his legacy for ages." I'd been beginning to worry that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy's in danger o' disappearing on us, but now we's gonna get us a pile o' rocks up in the capital to preserve 'em, I guess they's nothing to fear 'bout on that front. Plus, I'm sure it's a load off o' the mind o' other folks, too, 'cause now they ain't gotta worry 'bout passing no more laws to ensure civil rights ner making sure the current ones're enforced. In fact, maybe they can even start getting rid o' some o' them laws. I mean, they's paying $65.5 million dollars fer this pile o' stones to keep his legacy under, why cain't we just get a little more mileage outta 'em 'n' use 'em to store his ideals 'n' dreams 'n' accomplishments as well? It's a memorial, after all. That's what you put up to honor the memory of a person er event, right? So now we's gonna have this here pile o' rocks to remember him by, why do we need to remember him with words 'n' deeds 'n' actions?
'N' just why're we putting up a memorial to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fer anyway? Don't get me wrong, now. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man who accomplished a lot o' good, not just fer any one group o' people, but fer all o' humanity. But, great as he was, he was not the Civil Rights movement solely unto himself. They was lots o' other folks who were in that fight with him, before him, 'n' since him. Why're folks so anxious to th'ow up monuments to this one man on account o' the work he did fer Civil Rights but you don't see too many people running 'round trying to scrape up a bunch o' money to th'ow together a pile o' rocks to memorialize Civil Rights entire? 'N' I mean all o' Civil Rights, not just the Civil Rights o' any partic'lar group 'cause they ain't just fer any partic'lar group. 'N' I don't think Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was fighting fer the Civil Rights of just one partic'lar group.
We could have us a great big pile o' stones with statues 'n' quotes 'n' pictures. Maybe something like a great big Stonehenge kinda contraption with each o' the outside stones dedicated to one o' the individual fighters er groups in the battle fer Civil Rights like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 'n' Mrs. Rosa Parks 'n' Mr. Cesar Chavez 'n' the ACLU 'n' freedom riders 'n' the United Farm Workers 'n' even the Supreme Court 'n' such's that. Then, inside o' that ring o' protecting stones, we could have a ring o' stones dedicated to the legislation passed to protect the Civil Rights o' individuals: stones to Brown v. Board of Education 'n'Roe v. Wade 'n' the Civil Rights Act o' 1964. Then, in the center, the largest part o' the memorial could be gardens 'n' fountains dedicated to the single largest 'n' most important group involved in the struggle fer Civil Rights: the vicitims. They could be things like reflecting pools 'n' rose gardens 'n' cherry groves dedicated to folks like Matthew Shepard 'n' Malcolm X.
Ask me, that's the kind o' memorial they should be putting up in Washington D.C. Then again, with the one they's putting up fer one man costing something like $65.5 million dollars so far, it might be a bit expensive trying to put up something to honor all the thousands who we owe rememb'rances to 'long them lines. Maybe that's why they decided to just do a memorial to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. alone. Which makes me kinda wonder what he would o' thought o' all this. Seems to me, if you's to ask Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. which he'd rather have, $65.5 million dollars spent on a pile o' rocks to preserve his legacy er $65.5 million dollars spent on education 'n' programs to keep his legacy alive 'n' moving forward, I get the feeling he might o' just preferred the latter. I never met the man, but, somehow, I get the feeling that, if I's to ask him, he'd say something 'long the lines o' "If you wish to build a memorial to me, build me no memorials of stone or steel, for they are cold and dead things and even stone and steel will crumble to dust in time. If you wish to build a memorial to me, build me a memorial of your words and your deeds and your actions to one another, for these are living, breathing things that will endure as long as you speak them and do them and pass them on to the generations to come. If you wish to build a memorial to me, build me no memorial in the cities of man, for even the greatest cities can be destroyed and pass into the dust of time. If you wish to build a memorial to me, build me a memorial in your heart and in the hearts of all who cherish justice and truth and equality, for the hearts of honest and just men can never be destroyed and will last until the end of time."
