Reflecting on MLK Day 2013 – To Love When You’re Hated

I was grateful that our church office was closed this MLK Day as I was able to use the day for rest and reflection with my family.

Years ago, I remember having a day off from school and catching a television movie about Dr. King that contained one of the most violent scenes I remember seeing at that point of my life. The scene had a woman approach him while he was signing autographs.  Suddenly she stabbed him with something. I remember the panic and people running everywhere to protect him. I was a kid so I didn’t really understand assassination attempts and was further confused by the assassin being a black woman. Of course, years later I would learn that scene was Izola Curry stabbing Dr. King with a letter opener that he barely survived.  I believe the movie was “King: The Martin Luther King Story“, a  three-part miniseries, first telecast in February 1978.

I remember that I had watched countless of people getting killed on the A-Team and Star Wars but because I knew that Dr. King was a real person, I was truly saddened by the scene. I know how that sounds but I remember how incredible this moment was for me as a kid. And I couldn’t figure out why Izola Curry, a black [Read more…]