WQ #156: Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.
Happy Wednesday! Welcome to #WQ (Wednesday Quotes). Here’s your chance to showcase your photos, poems, thoughts, lists, and stories about anything people who inspire. As always, feel free to combine your favorite challenges and double dip. All you need is one excellent quote about the topic.
Rationale for WQ 2024: A Year of Inspiration
My WOTY (Word of the Year) is inspire or inspiring, so I am using that word to inspire WQ (Wednesday Quotes) 2024. I listed nine general categories that inspire me. People Who Inspire is the category that inspires this week’s post, and it will reappear at random intervals throughout the year.
Another criterion for choosing topics was a quick look at the calendar to see what or who is being celebrated during the week. My quotes for this week come from the inspiration of Federal Holidays and MLK Day being celebrated this week. Celebrating, remembering, and learning about inspiring people are windows into our past.
The holiday celebrates King’s birthday, January 15, 1929. It is noted nationally each year on the third Monday in January. The King Holiday Bill was introduced four days after his assassination on April 8, 1968, and was a bipartisan measure sponsored by Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and Republican Sen. Edward Brooke of Massachusetts. It was not passed until Ronald Reagan signed it into law in 1983.
We will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.
– “I Have a Dream” speech, August 1963
Visiting Memorials Are Windows Into the past
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
In junior high school, we had black children in our school who rode the bus with me. I considered many of them to be my friends.. We sat together and talked about homework and other kid stuff. We never discussed Civil Rights issues. I was unaware of anything beyond my own life. I thought everyone thought like I did, and I liked people with different skin colors, and I thought that made me immune to being prejudiced. I did not fully understand the lesson taught in MLK’s famous quote in the picture below until I was much older.
The year Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, my family had separated, and three-fourths of us had moved to Portland, OR, from Indiana. I was a junior in high school and 16 years old. Like with most tragedies, I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news.
I remained uninvolved in political demonstrations all my life. Since that time, I have met people my age from the South who marched in the Children’s Crusade in 1963. As a ten-year-old, one woman defied her parents to march with MLK. Ten years ago, when I met her, she worked in a museum recording oral histories of others, like herself, who had taken part in the march. I wish I had recorded our conversation.
Inspired by the Children’s March of 1963
More than a thousand
Children in Alabama
Marching for freedom
Hosed down, arrested
Freedom I took for granted
Because I was white
Youth - attacked by dogs,
clubbed, carted off in busses -
TO JAIL - outraged world
©Marsha Ingrao 2024
Senryu sentence
Imagine how life-changing it would have been to have taken part in that Crusade at the age of eleven. The graphic pictures of people on television – children being hosed down by the police made a sickening impression on me. At that age, it didn’t make sense to me that someone received different treatment because their skin was different. Actually, it still doesn’t make sense.
What are your thoughts and recollections about MKL, Jr.? How did his life impact yours?
Category: People who inspire
As I prepared the list of topics for this year, one consideration was, “Who inspires me?” Within each of these topics are hundreds of people to write about, and authors and movie makers around the world make a living writing about them. This was my initial list.
- Family- immediate, extended, ancestral, a friend’s family
- Leaders – political, business, church, non-profits …
- Film & sports stars
- Authors who have inspired and changed the world
- Amazing teachers
- Types of people – active, healthy, organized, intelligent, friendly …
- Groups of people – Irish, Italian, Chinese, Indigenous, men, women, activists, philanthropists, missionaries, service club members, good-looking, old (hahaha)…
This week, you might want to write about Martin Luther King, Jr. or consider which or what person inspires or interests you. This can be a photographic study, philosophy, poem, drawing, or the start of the next great biography or historical fiction.
DOUBLE DIPPING IS INSPIRED BY
Thank you all for providing inspiration each week. Providing a stimulating challenge each week takes a lot of thought and commitment.
Most of my photos are taken with my Apple 15 and modified and enhanced with a few easy steps in Lightroom Classic.
- Cell Pic Sunday – hosted by Photos by Johnbo
- Lens Artists Photo Challenge – Dramatic hosted by Patti Moed
- Second Wind Leisure – Windows hosted by Terri Webster Schrandt
- Weekend Coffee Share – hosted by Natalie the Explorer – coming Friday
Libraries and Computers are Windows into the Past
Adding LAPC Dramatic Enjoyed with People I admire
Links and Comments
Thank you for linking or leaving a comment today. OMGosh! The week has just started, and these links are amazing. I hope you are stopping by a few of them on your cruise through my post. You won’t be disappointed.
- A Fresh Cup of Coffee – a must read about MLK!
- Beach Walk Reflections
- Denyse Whelan
- Everyday Gyaan
- Janet Alcorn
- John’s Space
- Keep It Alive
- Lady Lee
- Lisa Notes a must read about MLK!
- Loving Life
- Myths of the Mirror
- No Facilities
- PhotobyJohnbo
- Pictures Imperfect
- Roberta Writes
- Second Wind Leisure
- Still Restless Jo
- The Eternal Traveller
- The Showers of Blessing
- Therapy Bits
- Touring My Backyard
- Travels and Trifles
- Two Trails One Road
- Unique Times with Cindy
- Wind Kisses
- Writer Ravenclaw
- Writing Sparkle
See it first on In Linkz. Click the link below to showcase your post or to read other posts. Try it, you’ll like it. You have to use a computer to link. Don’t forget to visit at least one or two other posts.
Upcoming and Ongoing on Always Write
- WQ #157 January 24: Literature & Media that inspire: Presidents’ Day
- WQ #158 January 31: Activities/Hobbies that inspire Month End Review
Marsha Ingrao Always Write 
76 responses to “WQ #156: Windows into the Past: People Who Inspire a Lifetime of Beliefs”
Food for thought as always Marsha. The things we take for granted when we are not the targeted minority. And that in this day and age, these issues continue to plague us all over the world.
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Yes, the problems are not limited to the United States, for sure. Thanks for your observation and comment, Ju-Lyn. Have a wonderful week.
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Hi Marsha
Here’s my post
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Your post is full of inspiration, Martha. I love the poems and the picture of you with the children!
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Thanks, Corinne. Your post is wonderful! 🙂
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[…] This week I’m posting for WQ #156: Windows Into The Past: People Who Inspire A Lifetime Of Beliefs […]
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“At that age, it didn’t make sense to me that someone received different treatment because their skin was different. Actually, it still doesn’t make sense.” This. My father was quite a racist, and I never could understand the logic of racism. I still can’t. Well, I understand the logic, however evil, of people using racism to retain power and privilege, but I don’t understand individual racist beliefs. If only Dr. King’s dream had come true. Sometimes I doubt it ever will.
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Thank you for your comment, Janet. I think the logic is fear-based. There is fear of losing power. The dream is still going on. But so is the battle. It’s just different, don’t you think?
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[…] for Lens-Artists Quotes, Marsha’s Wednesday Quotes: People Who Inspire and Johnbo’s CellPic […]
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Terrific post Marsha – and your choice of the memorial is definitely both dramatic and timely. I enjoyed your stroll down memory lane which reminded me of my own experience. We had a grand total of 3 black students in my high school and they were all siblings. It never occurred to me that they were any different but in hindsight I cannot imagine what it must have been like for them. If only the innocence of childhood could remain with all of us, everywhere.
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Hi Tina,
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. Innocence does remain for many. It is such hard work to make changes in our thinking. I read a quote on one of the blog posts about how hard it is for the people with the power to give it up. The powerful ones don’t even question their right to have the power. That’s true at every level, even the power struggles within a family.
As the first-born child, I had to work hard in my forties and fifties to earn the respect of my younger brother, who wrote me a twenty-some page letter outlining all his grievances against me from age 0 to then. It was eye-opening. Who knew? I was the perfect one, the one everyone loved and admired, respected THE MOST! I barely noticed or concerned myself with him unless there was an issue – until there was a huge issue – my bad! To both of our credits, we worked on our issues and became honest with each other and began to see each other’s real worth – not the automatic worth due the first-born.
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Inspire is a great word of the year. Great post, Marsha.
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Thanks, Shari. I added a link to your home page on this post as a thank you for commenting. 🙂 Have a great week. See you next week!
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Thank you, Marsha. I appreciate that.
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You are welcome.
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Hi Marsha, Happy New Year and good to catch up with you here. I was in Hawaii on my way home from 15 days in US in 2006 when I discovered Martin Luther King Jr was commemorated that day with a public holiday. I also remember the date for it as my son and his nephew, our grandson were born on 15 January 22 years apart. I am sorry to say we here in Australia are getting even more divided into groups based on Indigenous/First Nations people, being here 10s of thousands year earlier than our ‘colonial start’ when Britain claimed the land in the name of the King. We have what is called Australia Day coming up and it needs to change some way. I could write more but I won’t. Just to say, good to reach across the ocean and say ‘hello’ and remember we are one. People. Just people. sigh. Take care, Denyse. #weekendcoffeeshare
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Denyse, it’s so good to hear from you. I see you haven’t given up blogging entirely. You make some good points about the Indigenous population. We now have Indigenous Day on the same day as Columbus Day. There is so much to say about the topic, we could write a book, couldn’t we? I hope you are doing some writing while you are off. I love that you still comment on posts.
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Marsha, What a wonderful post, poems and striking photos. I agree with your list of inspiring people although I’d put ‘amazing teachers’ as #2, above ‘leaders and film/ sports stars’. Thank you for your weekend coffee share. Have a great weekend!
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Thanks for your comment, Natalie. 🙂
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What a wonderful post and poem and loved your photos too Marsha! It’s such a wonderful tribute to a man that worked tirelessly in his short years on the planet❣️💓
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Thank you , Cindy. He inspired so many and keeps inspiring in spite of his short years. He packed a powerful message! Thanks for your lovely comment!
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What a lovely tribute to MLK. His statue is clearly dramatic, and to be in it’s presence even more so. To be surrounded with the history and quotes at this memory is time not to forget. And perfect reflection for your love of people, quotes and things that inspire you. And windows to the past. Right on!
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Thanks, Donna. A couple of others wrote some posts that are truly moving about him as well. 🙂
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Yup. Quite dramatic. Saw it last September. Impressive.
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What a heart-felt and inspiring post, Marsha. Your choice of MLK was terrific as well as his quotes and statue. Definitely dramatic! When we are kids, I think the temptation is tunnel-vision–to think that our experience is the same as others. Hopefully as we get older, we realize there are many other realities, some of which are brutal and degrading.
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How true, Patti, there are so many others that we can’t even imagine. Thanks for hosting this week, and visiting! 🙂 Have a great week. 🙂
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HI Marsha, a beautiful post and very educational. I have read some of MLK’s speeches and know a bit about him, but your post has expanded my knowledge. Have a wonderful Friday.
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Thanks, Robbie. I even expanded my own knowledge!
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I enjoyed your post this week. Just linked mine on the “whatever it’s called”…lol. I like the quote about hew out of a mountain of despair a stone of hope…I also loved your list of people who inspire. I would agree with you!
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Thank you, Kirstin for the encouragement. I liked that quote, too. On Kym’s post she has the video of the speech. If you get a chance, you should check it out. You’ve probably seen it, but it makes that quote make even more sense. Don’t you love his ability to use words?
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I will. I’m making my around now to do some commenting.
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Me too. I still haven’t gotten to everyone! 🙂
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Your poem of 1963 reminded me of that day.
I liked your twist on the theme of Windows!
Thanks for such an inspiring post.
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Thanks, Nancy. I was rather proud of myself about the windows part. LOL Thanks for commenting. 🙂
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Very nice & interested written in post. Beautiful words use in poem. Inspiring words written you!
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Thank you Raj. You are so encouraging. 🙂
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You are most welcome,my friend! That’s my little & poor comment! It’s you like.
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😊😊😊
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I wrote a bit about MLK as well. I was born at the end of 1966 so I don’t really remember any of these events myself. A couple years ago in a literature course I taught, we read the autobiographical story of a woman who had been one of the first black students to attend the desegregated school in Alabama. Why can I not think of her name or the title of the book right now? probably because it’s late. Anyway, her story really hit me hard and I wept through most of the book, heartbroken that anyone could be so cruel, and perhaps worse, that so many were just thoughtless or remained silent about the injustices and abuses.
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The silence the worst part! If someone is bold enough to speak up, then the bully’s energy is dissipated – or someone gets hurt. There’s the fear factor! To fight against the government and the people who are supposed to protect you is what happened in Nazi Germany.
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Wonderful word and theme for the new year, Marsha. Happy writing 2024.
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Thank you, Miriam. Lots to be inspired and to write about this year! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
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I agree, Marsha! Looking forward to a year of inspiration.😊
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Have a wonderful day, Miriam! 🙂
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Thank you, Marsha! 🙂
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😎😎😎You’re welcome, Miriam!
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My post for tomorrow also features a memorial to this amazing man, which we saw in a park in Anchorage.
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Can’t wait to see it. I’ll link it, if you don’t mind! 🙂
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That’s fine of course, it will publish Friday afternoon my time. 🙂
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I’ll look for it. See you tomorrow! 🙂
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What a lovely tribute to King, Marsha. I often wonder what the country would be like if he’s survived – kinder, healthier, fairer, safer. He wasn’t a perfect man, but you don’t need to be perfect to do the right thing and stand up for a more just world. I love his words and his vision and I hope it doesn’t take another 400 years to his vision of equality and justice to come to pass. ❤ ❤
(And thanks for the kind link!)
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Thanks, Diana. I don’t think we have another 400 years. It will be different, for sure. Democracy was an experiment that has always been and still is pretty precarious. It’s hard to know how things would have been different. Sadly, sacrifice is often needed to put the exclamation point on the toughest problems. Once the sacrifice is made, the problem has a visual focus bigger than life. I think that’s what happened in MLK’s case. It was so shocking, so heartbreaking, so atrocious, that no one could deny that the problem existed.
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Good points, Marsha. It makes me furious that humans seem to need atrocities or catastrophes to make a change. Climate change (a whole other topic) is similar. I don’t think we’ll do anything until things get much much worse. Sigh. Keep spreading the kindness and love, my friend.
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You, too, Diana! 🙂
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There’s so much about prejudice that we do not understand. I’ve had a few opportunities to talk with people about their experience. Short conversations, scattered over time, but I realize that I don’t understand anything about what it’s like to live in fear, or poverty or to live with little or no hope, simply because of the conditions of my birth.
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Thanks for your thoughtful comment, Dan. You are such a deep thinker.
As a teacher, and even more as an instructional consultant, we had lots of training to make us aware of what we take for granted, but it still took deep conversations with people like you are talking about to help me understand that I am blind. That doesn’t mean I lose the prejudice, but we can’t change what we are born with, only what we do with it – as you know. 🙂
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An inspiring post, Marsha! Thanks for the good read.
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You’re welcome. Thanks for hosting Cell Pic Sunday, and for reading my post!!! 🙂
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So many people inspire me, including Martin Luther King, Jr! Thanks for sharing this. I wrote a post about him this week too.
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Thanks for your comment, Lisa, and for your wonderful FB group. It seems like a pretty active group. I had a group and it wore me out trying to think of things to post to draw people in. You’ve got a mission and are doing a wonderful job with yours. Send me the link to your post, and I’ll link to my post and come visit! 🙂
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I have an inkling that you might like my post this week: https://picturesimperfectblog.wordpress.com/2024/01/17/not-just-one-troublemaker/
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I always love your posts, Elke! what’s not to love?
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I know. But this time I took your idea and ran with it…
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Best post EVER!!! xxx Give some xxxx to them too!
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[…] Wednesday Quotes 2024: People Who Inspire a Lifetime of Beliefs […]
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We can be so tunnel vision, can’t we? I mean me, of course! When I was much younger I thought the ‘coloured problem’ was something that existed in America. I struggled to understand it because, after all, we in the UK didn’t have prejudice. Well, not in my limited experience anyway. I only ever recall seeing one person of colour- a shiny black! – in a pub in my hometown. Then I moved to London. One of my good friends was a coloured lady. Still the penny didn’t drop. It took me many years to realise that I was as capable of prejudice as the next person. I accepted the privilege of being white without giving it a thought. So did most of my contemporaries. How different my life would have been had I been born in a coloured community in Soweto.
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Exactly, Jo. Thank you for this thoughtful comment!
I don’t even think being prejudiced mean being mean. It just means being blind and taking for granted what we have and why we have it. Most of the things we didn’t put into place, nor did the people we interact with, it just happened and history swerved off its course because of it. What is wrong is when we treat people without dignity.
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[…] WQ #156: Windows into the Past: People Who Inspire a Lifetime of Beliefs – Marsha Ingrao – Alway… […]
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Martin Luther King inspired generations of people.
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And he will continue to do so until there is no future, probably. 🙂 Thanks for your comment! 🙂
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What a great and important twist on the theme of windows. Looking through the window of the past to the time MLK inpaired all of us is so moving, Marsha. His quotes are eternal in a sad way, but each generation can take away from those words and continue the causes of justice. Your other windows were perfect! I always appreciate what you share for Sunday Stills! Xoxo
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And look at you up and running and still replying so promptly! This is an important post. I had no idea how long it took for the holiday to come into being. Even after that, it took years for many states to adopt it. Phoenix hosts it’s own march in celebration. I couldn’t help but to compare the two. The one in Phoenix had a police escort. The one in AL had police harassment. What a difference 40 years can make.
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Wonderful post, Marsha!
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Thank you, Luanne.
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You are welcome!
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I like your poem about 1963. Looking back, the 1960s were a crazy time … with 1968 being the craziest year … compared to then, we’ve made progress. Then again, we still have a long way to go. Looking at the list of past beach walk essays, I don’t one that fits your theme – so because of MLK’s words, here’s my essay about dreams. https://beachwalkreflections.wordpress.com/2021/03/27/56-dreams/
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