The Pulpit Speaks: October 29, 1960 (Redux)

Two years ago – almost to the day – I posted my father’s article with the above date. While I still have other articles of his left to post, this one is just so appropriate in light of events of this past week. Let me put it in perspective: at this time, my father was almost the same age as I am now – he was 49, I am 48 – and he was seeing political landscape undergoing a major change. And, of course, this was in the days of Jim Crow, poll taxes, and literacy tests – in other words, a time in which few blacks were able to vote. While a black man in Memphis TN at this could only go so far without risking not only his livelihood but his life, read between the lines of what he wrote here:

Each man is so designed that, consciously or unconsciously, he can make a contribution to a better world order. This can only be realized when we as men stand up for that which is best for all men. Whether we occupy a place of low estate or relative importance, we must place an importance on our station that, through our contacts and the like, will enable us to do only that which is best for all concerned. In spite of the unpopularity of doing that which is right, we must fortify ourselves to the point that, at every opportunity, we must show our real worth.

Re-reading those words, and the rest of what he wrote in that piece, I think he was urging people to do what we saw people do this week: stand up and be counted.

This is one of those times – like so many before – that I wish my father were here to tell me what he meant in these writings. Obviously, I read them through the lens of my own experience. But I have a feeling that I’m right on this – that despite the barriers, people needed to express their opinion.

I have no idea if my father voted in that 1960 election. But because of him and others, I voted in 2008. And for the path that they blazed so that I could exercise my right, I am grateful.

View the entire archive of “The Pulpit Speaks” here.