This day, his day, day to remember him, Martin Luther King, Junior.

More importantly, a day to remember all he stood, and died for.

A dear old friend offered these thoughts, I certainly could not do better,

So I give you this bit from Scott C. Murphy, educator, thinker, doer of meaningful things. Scott writes,

“Reflection on MLK weekend, on our history and being American. Have a nice weekend.

Being American is not Black and White.

Nor is it simply Red, White and Blue.

I remember as a young teacher in the early 90’s watching the series, Eyes on the Prize. For those unfamiliar, it is a poignant and graphic portrayal of the struggles during the civil rights periods in our country. It was, for me, a solidification of who and how I would be as an educator and a citizen. In context to Dr. King, whom we honor today, it was also a broader perspective of the man and the work that could not reasonably be reduced to simply knowing his “I Have a Dream” speech.

As we navigate this version of America and the brand of being American pedaled to us now, I reflect back to this series often.

I don’t need whitewashed history.

I’ve never believed that our American scars and even our black eyes are somehow unworthy of our inspection nor unAmerican in their existence. On the contrary. I’ve seen things like slavery (and its abolishment), racial inequity (and the civil rights movement), use of the atomic bomb (and its temperance thereafter) as defining experiences of, in fact, being American. Said another way, in absence of these events and their full acknowledgement, we are not American at all.

Because of these battles of will, of body, of belief and of soul, we have also developed capacity for conflict and resolve. In every classroom I have ever taught or school that I have led have been students able to examine the good, the bad and the ugly. Their movement from ignorance to understanding has never been in shying away from the hard, complex, brutal truths of our past as they intersect with the uplifting, reverent, redeeming narrative with which they are paired. Our flag lays on caskets as regally as it waves in the wind.

My students know that America is real. Our flag is real. Our history is real. Our struggles are real. We are neither a fiction nor a fairy tale. And we are certainly not a lie.

We are fully capable of freedom of information, independence of thought, and the liberty of significant struggle. I love this country because we choose to take the nooses off of the tree, not because we pretend they were never there in the first place. Every future generation of ours deserves to know all that we have done and all that we have learned. To teach is not to deny, but to lean in with the curiosity, will and courage that has always and will forever define us. It is not only what makes us American, it is what makes us human.

As we honor Dr. King this weekend and keep our eyes on the prize, may we keep those eyes wide open.”