Thank God Almighty

On Saturday March 7, the 45th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, I revisited the Smithsonian exhibit Road to Freedom, which focused on the press' role in bringing the Civil Rights Movement to the forefront of the American consciousness . My first time around, I was brought to tears gazing upon the photographs of those who'd sacrificed their physical safety, the comforts of home and even their lives to fight for the basic rights of citizenship. As I gazed at a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. laying in a glass-top coffin, it finally dawned on me that although his death is a still-immeasurable hole in the fabric of the ongoing American story, if he'd not tirelessly marched, selflessy utilized the passive resistance techniques that make him immortal, and made the greatest of sacrifices, we would probably not be where we are today. He laid his exhausted self down so others could pick up his baton and lead. I shared these thoughts with those I attended my second viewing with, members of Swirl, Inc, a group focusing on multiracial people, their families and their supporters, who brought up the unspoken struggles of those who fought for the right to love, marry and have children with whomever they wanted, regardless of race. Those who struggled unrelentingly, like Richard and Mildred Loving, should have their place in discussions right alongside Dr. King or Rosa Parks, for they did as much for human liberty and demonstrated the strongest of virtues, that of love.