round and round...

Monday, January 16, 2006

A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.

He said that. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "A man can't ride your back unless it's bent." Think about that for a minute. What he was saying is that anyone can take advantage of you and keep you down if you let them. Of course, there was much more nuance and meaning wrapped up in those 9 words when he spoke them, but that's the baseline, that's the heart of it. He was encouraging black people to become advocates for themselves and peacefully resist segregation and intolerance built up by white lawmakers (and, sadly, a good portion of the general population) who wanted to preserve the separation of blacks and whites at any cost.

Today, this Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I take those words to heart. Do they have the same meaning for me as they did for the people to whom he was speaking back in the mid-60s? No, for several reasons. Most basically, I'm white and it's 2006. I wasn't around when the Civil Rights struggle was in full swing and Dr. King was rousing hope and making waves. But his words mean something to me in my own life. Just because something was said in a time that you weren't part of, to a people you're not part of, doesn't mean that you can't see validity and glean your own moments of insight from them.

To me, those words mean that I cannot be defeated if I don't allow it to happen. If I don't invite failure in, I've got a good shot at succeeding. If I make myself into a doormat then chances are I'm going to get stepped on. 2006 is a time for making strides, a time for growth and a time for walking tall. My back is not bent.

Thank you, Dr. King, for the lessons. Perhaps if more people read your words and not just recognized your face we'd all learn something.

7 What people are saying:

Blogger Fish rambles...

hear, hear.

And I'll carry on believing that we shouldn't perpetuate any kind of intolerance, racial or otherwise - not out of any benevolant imperative but because it demeans ME.

In which case I think his words are just as relevant now.

1/16/2006 10:35:00 AM

 
Blogger The Rover rambles...

Amen.

1/16/2006 02:40:00 PM

 
Blogger Deadly Female rambles...

*claps*

1/17/2006 07:25:00 AM

 
Blogger Minnesota Nice rambles...

If only he were still with us.

1/18/2006 02:57:00 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous rambles...

I am 81 years old, and I heard this quote for the first time when they dedicated the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. Love the quote and will pass it on as often as I can to others.

11/26/2016 01:22:00 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous rambles...

I saw this quote while being stressed out from work. My boss has been riding me for almost 5 years having to help her a lot on her work while doing my job. I recently got a better job somewhere else, and now my boss wants to hire 3 people to replace my spot. I realized how underpaid I have been and with all those stress I experienced is because I was doing a 3-person job, getting paid for one.

Speak up. Know your worth and strive to improve to be able to stand tall and be proud.

6/03/2021 12:58:00 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous rambles...

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9/28/2022 03:35:00 PM

 

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