an old soul

Forty years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his last speech, before being assassinated on April 4 of 1968. I just read today that his autopsy showed that while he was only 39 years old when he died, he had the heart of a 60 year old. I like to imagine what he would have been like, and I think that's something everyone would have known about him...he had an old soul...you see that in people from time to time...who are burdened and worn down, but strong and wise, even though according to the calendar they are young.

I love the vulnerability in his autobiography. One minute he totally throws down with his verbal kung-fu like he has a way of doing, and then the next demonstrates the reality of what his world was like, in a way where you wonder if even he was somewhat unaware of his own context. Watch how this happens:

"With this heritage, it is not surprising that I also learned to abhor segregation, considering it both rationally inexplicable and morally unjustifiable."

Then in the next paragraph:

"So for this reason [my father] was able to provide us with the basic necessities of life with little strain. I went right on through school and never had to drop out to work or anything."

Hm.



So much of what he writes is so empowering and...just huge.

I would end up having to go to the back of that bus with my body, but every time I got on that bus I left my mind up on the front seat. And I said to myself, "One of these days, I'm going to put my body up where my mind is."