Remembering A Legacy, Honoring A Dream

One quote by Dr. King that continues to captivate me is that 'learning to judge others, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.’

Each year, for the past three years I’ve been citing that quote, I've been deliberately eyeing it in earnest contest to draw out the ‘true scientific’ depth of its subtext. And each year, despite the raw simplicity to define, I have not met that challenge… to my satisfaction. All of us can take instruction from the quote, yet a higher source now begs me…implores me in fact, to slip the biological puppy I have my eye on, in a book I’ve been toying around with for some umpteen years. In other words, that one quote inspires my writing, and is the driver behind the books I love and talk up.

All to say and none-the-less, Dr. King’s words may mean many things, to many people, yet and even so the long-lived legacy of those spoken words is one testimony not uttered in vain. Thank you, Dr. King. Happy Birthday.

Now, here’s a challenge I just might meet…in real time. This year, in addition to completing and dusting off a few novels, I’m also challenging myself to read 35 books. Unlike in past years, these books will include a mix of genres I rarely attempt. For instance, I plan to make a more concentrated effort to read one of the Potter books (Rowling)… and Pride and Prejudice (Austen)… and Lolita (Nabokov) … and Paradise (Morrison)… along with (a) book containing more than 500…or one book (okay, so maybe 5 or 6) I can finish in a day…or perhaps something my mother loves. That last one will be my greatest challenge since my mother loves a lot of books; making it my chore to find one she loves AND has read completely!

That’s another thing. I'm a line-by-line finger reader, to very last page. Skim reading, or speed reading, or how about passing judgment on content marginally digested is just not my thing, especially for books placed on my favorites list.

I also always say, ‘a challenge isn’t a challenge if its been done before.’ Like...take walking on water. To the person who attempts that one, and accomplishes it!!!... well, I would read that story, which by the way, this is the type reading that makes it to the top of my favorite reading list. Books have got to be deep, or give me pause to reflect…and critically think. Can’t flim-flam me with light content and some jazzy writing because I’ll hear the pedal hit the floorboard and screeching tires in a second. The content must explore unfamiliar territory, the reason I find great energy in reading memoirs, and also what kind of has me looking ahead at my 2017 to-read list as a real reading challenge.

Got my fingers crossed because honest to goodness I hope to have pre-selected some of the best.

Honoring MLK 365