Charlotte, NC

It was forty years ago today …
Rev. Martin Luther King — a man who devoted his life to closing racial barriers and opening the doors of equality, justice and peace — was due to be in Charlotte to help Reginald Hawkins in his bid to become the state’s first African-American governor.
But, two days earlier, he had to postpone the trip.
He was heading to Memphis to help striking sanitation workers.

Sadly, we know the rest of the story …

But, in a way, it kinda makes ya wonder what things would’ve been like had Dr. King been able to complete his mission in Charlotte (and surrounding areas). He would’ve felt “at home” in Charlotte — a city that had more racial equality than most Southern cities of its size (although some stores, like the old Atlantic Mills on South Boulevard, still had the “whites-only” water fountains). In due course, chances are he would’ve succeeded, along with Dr. Hawkins, in inspiring African-Americans of voting age to register … possibly swinging the electorate pendulum toward Dr. Hawkins a bit.

As time progressed, he would’ve been active in social and school programs, campaigned more strongly for the specific and needed rights of all minorities and — even at the age of 79 — would’ve been an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War, opting instead to negotiate a more peaceful solution to the terrorist threat. But it’s doubtful that he would’ve ever run for President, although there would’ve been an eventual call for it.

The mind, at this time, can go through endless “what-if” scenarios, but the truth is that we can’t go back and change things. Dr. King was assassina … no, he was murdered, plain and simple. But, though the dreamer’s gone, the dream, itself, lives on … if we only have enough conscience to want it.

The same could be said for another famous peace advocate, who lost his life twelve years and almost eight months later. Like Dr. King, John Lennon was murdered by someone with twisted ideals. No, make that “criminal.”

You see, we can plaster names, causes, reasons or whatever all over these perpetrators, but the assassins were criminals for two reasons:
The first is obvious: Murder is a crime!
The second, though, is that their assault on the efforts of peace and unity that both these men brought to the table is criminal itself!

Today, remember April 4, 1968 and at 6:01 PM (the time of Dr. King’s murder), stop for a second and say a little prayer for peace, okay??