Love Illuminates Life
Published on Nov 30, 2015
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How Love Illuminates Life
by Justin Cooley
I still remember that dark time
Photo by Yoko ❥ (Paulina)
Hope that one day, our children would be able to live together with people of all colors....
When I was a young child, I had always known I looked different than most of the kids I saw around, but we didn't really care too much
We were still friends, regardless of the color of our skin
But every day I would see people lined up at my school, yelling and holding signs, I didn't understand, but I knew they were upset
I soon started to understand what was happening when I heard the words "Blacks" and "Whites". I never liked those words, the two names that divided the people apart. I started noticing more signs and places that had a side for "Whites" and another for "Colored". I knew that we looked different, but I didn't see why we had to be separated. Even my friends at school were starting to figure out what was happening, and some started to drift away and avoid me.
Then, as I grew up, I noticed my parents were going out with signs, then coming back battered and upset, and sometimes even soaking wet. I would ask them numerous times what they were doing but they would never tell me what was happening. Then, once they took me with them, and I saw groups of blacks walking, holding signs that said things about equality and fair treatment.
Boycotts, marches, and protest. These were all things that my parents would participate in. They spoke of a brilliant man who encouraged the practice of "peaceful protest". I started hearing of various events where black people were peacefully protesting in ways like going on strike, and standing up to segregation in schools, on buses and other places.
Soon, the protest actually started working. Even whites joined and there was a great march, a march led by that brilliant man. The man who gave a passionate speech about his dreams. He hoped that love could help tie the bonds between all people, no matter what they looked like.
Martin Luther King Jr., the man who had fueled our small flame of hope and desire. But looking back on that now, I've realized that he did much more than that. He showed us what really lights up the darkness in times of need.
Love
Love held us together. Love fueled our flame of hope that burned through every attempt to put it out. Love encouraged people to stand up in what they believed in. Love carried the message of peace and equality and inspired people to accept others into their hearts. Love shined through the forest of darkness and diminished hate.
Love Illuminated Life.
Photo by Frank Wuestefeld
