John Archibald’s Recent Column

John Archibald’s recent column rekindles my hope.

It reminds me of an experience I wrote about for the Arab Tribune over a decade ago, after visiting the steps of the Alabama State Capital.

You can read my column in the Arab Tribune HERE.

You can read John Archibald's column in AL.com HERE.

I was born 4 weeks, to the day, after the March on Montgomery arrived at the capital steps in 1965 to promote the Voting Rights Act (the one that our present-day politicians recently started gutting).

After Obama was elected, and I was filled with such hope, I stood on those steps, right where Jefferson Davis was inaugurated and in view of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church that MLK served. I saw the tree planted from seeds George Wallace sent to the moon.

Oh, the juxtaposition. I imagined the 1965 march as if I were standing at the crossroads of history. In my one little life, we had gone from the fight for the right to vote unencumbered to a successful Black president.

I have not given up on the hope I felt that day, despite the discouraging white nationalist backlash that has ensued since then in American politics.

I do believe the arc of history bends toward justice, and my own derivative of MLK’s phrase: The arc of Christian history bends toward inclusion.

Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher Read the original ↗