The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall was opened to the public (and general acclaim) last Monday, but today’s planned official dedication had to be rescheduled to “September or October” due to Hurricane Irene. So, in lieu of the usual Sunday morning political-horserace yammer, I give you Roland S. Martin, at CNN:
It’s only fitting that during the week we were to dedicate the memorial in Washington to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., an earthquake would hit the region and the entire East Coast would be bracing itself for a hurricane.
__
When we think about the enormity of King’s work, in which he gave his life, as well as the many folks who also fought in the civil rights movement, we realize that their actions struck at this nation’s core with a ferocity never seen before…
__
Across the tidal basin is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, which honors the man who articulated the vision of America. To the left is the Washington Monument, which honors the man who led the nation in the fight to establish the United States of America. Behind the King monument is the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, dedicated to the man who kept America from tearing apart.
__
But out of all of these men, it took a King to force America to live up to its ideals. Americans loved to recite the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, but for many, those were simply words…
__
What should inspire all who see it is that no matter your station in life, you can make a difference. King was just 25 when he was drafted into the movement.
__
If there is something in your community that needs to be addressed, do it. Don’t wait. Don’t whine. Don’t complain. Don’t pass the buck.
__
Just be willing to serve, care and do it out of love and compassion.
The Root has a short history of the monument’s “complicated history” here.
My area (just north of Boston) isn’t predicted to get more than “tropical storm force winds” and some 2-4 inches of rain out of Hurricane Irene, later today. Hope everyone’s come through the storm with nothing worse than a few good stories — anybody want to share theirs?
Cheryl from Maryland
In the northwestern DC suburbs, nothing of note except some fallen branches and a fence rail. We are fortunate — we evacuated Thursday from the Outer Banks. Best wishes to those north of us in the hurricane’s path and those dealing with damage to the south.
And hurrah for Mr. Martin — his articulation of how Dr. King worked to make the vision of America’s founders available to all, as well as his simple explanation of the contributions of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and King together as a group is perfect.
I guess I’ll have to take back every snigger I made when seeing Mr. Martin in an ascot.
MikeJ
The ‘rents had a sewer main backed up so as a dutiful son I had to go over and literally dig a ditch. About five feet down and eight feet long. Their neighbor who always needs computer tech support is a plumber fortunately, so he handled all the parts that needed knowledge, but I got to be the dumb labour.
Everything works now, but I get to go back today and fill in the hole.
I think I’d rather have a nice rainstorm and a little wind.
Cermet
All power has been out since yesterday about 11:00 at night; on battery power (for now.) Trees down, many roads blocked but very happy – (skidded off the steep roof and landed on my butt/back from a seven feet fall with a bit of speed after coming down the roof before leaving said roof… can’t understand why I wasn’t hurt … LUCKY! At least the repairs held up. Still very dumb using the ladder up on a support – bad idea.)
Will have to pull the generator out and get power to the house. Some really big trees fell near. Winds are still bad (Maryland near Baltimore.) Rain dying down but winds still strong.
arguingwithsignposts
Seems like a good video clip for the occasion: part of MLK’s last speech. “All we say to America is be true to what you said on paper.”
MikeJ
@Cermet: Good luck. Sorry to have sounded flip in my comment above. I realise hard physical labour, as much as I dislike it, is nothing compared to a real hurricane.
Stay safe.
R-Jud
I’m waiting to hear from my parents in NE PA. I think their property should be fine, other than probably losing power, but Mom’s a local official and may wind up having to go look at flooding down by the Delaware River at some point.
I broke my goddamn leg last Sunday and have nothing better to do other than look at coverage of the storm, at least until I am off the crazy-go-nuts pain meds.
I tried to play Scrabble last night with the SO and was just useless. I can barely string together syllables, let alone sentences, when that stuff takes hold. Also, too: groin-to-ankle plaster casts suck.
Van
Pretty bad here in Richmond, lots of trees down and the majority of the city is without electricity. similar to Isabel, but not as bad. Most of the damage is from the sustained (about 10 hours) tropical force winds knocking down trees.
Starfish
I think a tree fell down on our street last night. The city had a large truck out here with men wearing raincoats and wielding chainsaws. They also had a wood chipper.
This was about five hours before the center of the storm was closest to us. I thought it was weird that the city would send people out during bad weather to do this instead of waiting until it passed.
gene108
Irene didn’t do much here in Southern Jersey, as a open my front door at look out of my porch.
One small tree fell down. Ground’s pretty wet. Lights flickered once last night.
Otherwise not much damage.
Thank goodness Irene decided to down grade to a Cat. 1 storm before making land fall. This made a huge difference in the amount of damage the east coast has had to deal with.
I’ve been through one Cat. 3 in 1996 and we (by this I mean everyone in the counties near where I lived) lost power for about 1 week.
Shlemizel - was Alwhite
@Cermet:
I fell 4 feet while on my way to the roof about 12 years ago – broke my pelvis into 3 pieces. Sometimes you just get lucky.
Glad to hear that the forecast for your area Anne. I have a nephew in Billerica and we have tried a few times Friday to get in touch to see if he & family were ready but got no answer. I assume the were just out enjoying the summer.
JPL
@R-Jud: Wow! After reading your blog, all I can say is thirteen weeks to go. Take care.
R-Jud
@JPL: Thanks. The giant cast comes off September 8th. I should be a lot more comfortable after that.
MonkeyBoy
It is interesting that in the secular U.S., many public monuments derive from pre-Christian practices of ancestor worship where ancestors were considered to have great influence after their death, were worshiped in their burial temple and often had an eternal flame that was their continued spiritual existence after death.
Some scholars hold that much of religions and the development of the noble-supernatural (major gods) is a re purposing of ancestor-worship away from the direct linage to the entire political state. E.g. the Lincoln Temple is for all Americans, not just for members of the Lincoln family. Aspects of Christianity can be seen as generalized ancestor worship where God is referred to as “our Father”.
Ellie
Reporting from western DC ‘burbs: We got off very easy. Heard some wind during the night but nothing too exciting. Best news to report is that the POWER STAYED ON. I’m very happy to have prepared for the worst only to get something less destructive than a severe summer T-storm.
chopper
waiting for the eye to go over us here in BRK. meh.
Mike S
Here in Berks County PA (50 miles from Philly and about 100 from the coast) We had 4.81 inches of Rain in the rain gauge. But We don’t have any trees or branches down, we have power and only a trickle of water in the basement. The Tomato trellises are still standing, so we survived just fine. Anyone need the 15 one gallon jugs of water I have filled with our well water? How about the 7 buckets of water ready for toilet flushing?
If you want to see other volunteer rainfall reports go to CoCoRAHS (Community Collaberative, Rain, Hail and Snow Network web site and select maps)
Nicole
So far, in scenic Harlem, it’s just been rain and wind, but NY1 (local news) is doing it’s best to make it sound like the biggest catastrophe evah. I love NY1. Yesterday Pat Kiernan, the morning anchor, demonstrated storm surge by blowing on his coffee.
WereBear
Bracing in the Adirondack Mountains; which is supposed to be no more than a bad thunderstorm… that lasts for hours. We’ll see.
I’ve been through three noteworthy hurricanes (Camille, Gloria, Isabel) so my best wishes go out to everyone in a storm path.
Svensker
Waiting to see if my family has power. Since Ridgewood looses power when a squirrel farts (who said that yesterday?) I’m pretty sure it will have gone out. Question is, for how long? A couple summers ago my MIL was without power for 5 days in the summer after a moderate thunderstorm — this, in one of the richest suburbs on earth.
Hill Dweller
Meanwhile, Fox has spent part of the weekend saying we should eliminate the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center, and rely more on the “private sector”…
Bruce S
I’m going to say straight out that I do not like the King Memorial – the realization, not the idea of a memorial – at all. It looks like what it is – the kind of tepid, emotionally blank, dumbed-down portrait in stone one would expect if you went to China seeking a sculptor of those crappy giant Mao statues. Which is what was done, incredibly! The lack of imagination, artistic mediocrity and failure to embody or respect the spirit of King’s own creativity and dynamism in what will become the most visible MLK monument is very disappointing.
Dr. King has been so aggressively neutered in his official persona on every front that this dull statue is a kind of ultimate embalming of his legacy IMHO. This thing looks like the world’s biggest stone portrait of a high-school principal. The Chinese labor aspect – even in the final construction at the mall – is just the last nail in what would, as realized, have been the coffin of a totally vapid monument, no matter who was responsible. What were they thinking ?
geg6
Too far from the coast and with a mountain range to protect us here in Pittsburgh. But weirdly, it was easy tell when the storm hit the Jersey/Philly area as the winds suddenly started picking up and were coming from the east instead of the usual westerly or north westerly winds we get. Still a little gusty this morning, but we have had stunning weather all weekend and it’s looking like it’s shaping up as another stunner. Beautiful blue skies, a few white fluffy clouds, no humidity, and temps in the low 60s now, rising to high 70s/low 80s. I’m going to spend as much time outside as I can, enjoying it and sending positive thoughts for all who are or have been in the storm’s path.
Gozer
No power outages here (30 mins or so north of Philly), but the basement waterproofing we spent thousands on several months ago failed and now we have lots of wet carpet and an egress window that doesn’t drain properly…
At least the sump pump works. And I never ran out of booze.
Cermet
@Shlemizel – was Alwhite: I am so sorry! That is very serious and I hope you have fully recovered. Mine was complete and total stupidity and I am lucky I am here unhurt and not in ER (soft ground to counter my hard head!)
By the way, anyone with a generator – remember that the CO fumes are a killer and all generators MUST be outside away from air intakes, too. Watch out for tree limbs and be safe!
Villago Delenda Est
It’s interesting that two of the leading Rethuglican Presidential hopefuls embrace a religious dogma that views the Enlightenment as “a mistake”.
The Enlightenment is the foundation of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Any educated American knows this.
Which tells you all you really need to know about Perry and Bachmann.
Davebo
The media is hyping Irene beyond belief.
After Ike we had literally tens of thousands of downed trees littering the roadways and I was without power for three weeks. That’s three weeks of Texas summer with no A/C. I had clients calling on my cell wanting help (power surges are tough on servers) and I couldn’t risk driving to help them because there were no gas stations open.
During Rita things were even worse as people tried to get out of town after seeing the aftermath of Katrina.
A Cat 1 hurricane? I’d sleep through it.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Davebo: Oh you are such a badass.
Tara the antisocial social worker
I think I need to fire my cats. I spotted a mouse running behind the stove yesterday, and the slackers didn’t even look up from their naps.
On the other hand, the border collie has been camped out in front of the stove, waiting to pounce. I think she plans to herd the mice to death.
(I realize everyone else has bigger problems, especially on the East Coast, but I figured a pet break couldn’t hurt.)
Keithley
It’s showtime in the Hudson valley. A few tree limbs down in the neighborhood, lots of wind and rain. We still have power. So far, so good, but it’s going to be a long day with a lot more rain and wind.
Jim Pharo
Starting to look like the boy who cried wolf here in Manhattan. Once again, our media served us well by whipping the populous into a frenzy of fear.
What will they do when they’ve spent all their capital and really need to scare us? They won’t be believed. This is why so many people simply disregard storm warnings, even (especially) when warranted.
Our local news is showing very fast moving…storm drains. And the sun is poking through…
arguingwithsignposts
@Tara the antisocial social worker:
lol.
cathyx
All news channels everywhere hype weather stories as much as possible. It’s a ratings game. Their viewership soars during bad weather and they want to take advantage of it.
Dennis SGMM
@Bruce S:
King’s statue looks like Han Solo in carbonite. He deserves way, way, better.
cleek
the storm forced Gillian Welch to cancel their show in Wilmington. so, they booked a show in Saxapahaw, NC (pop 1,400), which sold out in like 4 days. but we got tix. and it was awesome!
arguingwithsignposts
@cleek:
Last I checked, Gillian Welch was a _she_. Although Rawlings rawks the guitar.
PurpleGirl
Everyone should remember that what is or has happened in your little local area is not representative of the whole area. It amazes me how localized the winds and rain are, even within a block or two: some trees on my development’s campus are waving madly and a half a block down not a bit of movement. A block over in the cemetery — narry a movement by a leaf can I see. The double-paned windows we put in two years ago have blocked most of the sound of wind.
PurpleGirl
@Tara the antisocial social worker: Yes, a pet story is usually a good thing to this crowd and much appreciated.
magurakurin
@Davebo: in Japan we sleep through Cat 1’s as well. Well, when they come at night, other wise we sit around the “kotatsu” table, watch tv, eat snacks and wait for it to pass. Category 3’s are scary though. There are always a few gusts of wind that have you seriously wondering how well the concrete was mixed when they built the building you are in. Never was under a 4 or 5, thankfully. That would be abject horror, I imagine.
The hype for this storm was so high and so bad it made it across the Pacific. But people here are like, whaaa? that’s all it was? Uh.
jeffreyw
@Tara the antisocial social worker:
You think you have worthless cats? How about falling down drunk cats that the mice gather to mock?
cleek
@arguingwithsignposts:
they often refer to themselves as “Gillian Welch the band.” they also have the “David Rawlings Machine”, which is often just Gillian and Dave, but where David sings.
guess i’ve picked up the usage
magurakurin
@PurpleGirl: yeah, but not really. It was a weak Category 1 hurricane. It just ticked over the limit and it was TS when it got to NYC. I guarantee you can search the history banks and find winter Nor’easters that have produced much stronger wind, way more damage, heaps of snow and cold as hell conditions for the folks who lost power, who were legion. Double for Boston. Yes, the Northeast doesn’t generally experience tropical cyclones, but they very frequently have big, bad ass winter storms that are every bit, in fact more, frightening than a Cat 1 hurricane. The media is crap in the US.
YellowJournalism
Tara: We have a mouse in our backyard. Our terrier stakes out the patio door and constantly scratches to go out whenever she sees or thinks she sees it. One day she spent an hour outside sitting next to a pile of brush we hadn’t gotten rid of yet. She could not be coaxed away ferom it for anything, not even treats or table scraps. She finally had to pee and I saw the mouse make a break for it as she turned away. She then chased the thing with the deftness of a cat, but it got to the neighbor’s yard. It was then I remembered that her breeds are natural small rodent hunters.
Tara the antisocial social worker
@jeffreyw:
LOL.
Of course, if it was John Cole, the cat, dog and mice would have ganged up on him and caused some catastrophe by now.
Big Baby DougJ
I hate when people use “enormity” incorrectly like that.
Davebo
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
I’m anything but a badass. And I’m not griping about the people on the NE coast, just the media’s reaction and coverage.
The sad fact is that hurricanes that make it into the Gulf of Mexico are fueled by the warm waters and grow beyond Cat 1. Hell Katrina was just a Cat 3 storm and while a Cat 3 is obviously devastating it’s nothing like Carla which was a Cat 5 storm. Rita was also a Cat 5 storm.
As bad as the storms are, it’s the aftermath that truly sucks. Go to Paris or Amsterdam and look up. Notice the power lines? No because they are below ground. In the US however we still rely on the ubiquitous poles.
Why? The folks in Virginia, the Carolina’s and of course NY will soon be back on the grid. But the fact is they never had to be off of it.
I can put up plywood on my windows and hunker down during a major storm (which Irene is not) and I can run my generator to keep the fridge going which is important. But when it’s 102 degrees after the storm I can only sweat (and drink!). Hell, at least I’ll have ice!
Shlemizel - was Alwhite
@Cermet:
Yeah, I have a little limp but I was very lucky as it is easy to bleed out very fast from this sort of injury.
By blind dumb luck I got one of the top Ortho guys in the country when the first hospital couldn’t repair the damage. He told me I was screwed but then performed a miracle by driving 11 pins, 2 over 4 inches long, perfectly when a fraction one way or the other would have been failure. I owe that guy my life.
Bago
The MLK statue makes Han Solo look like a wimp.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Davebo: Part of the hated media’s role was to project the worse-case scenario to get people the get their asses in gear and get out of the way. You know that it could have been a higher category storm and that there is no way to tell which way it would go.
gogol's wife
Here in Connecticut our worst event so far was that our cat Sasha fell into the bathtub full of water. She won’t be trying that again. I can’t bear to turn on the television, but my friend who watches it says the worst is over — and it hasn’t been too bad, at least in my (inland) microclimate. I can’t believe how susceptible I’ve been to the hype. But I guess better safe than sorry.
Roger Moore
@Davebo:
Nah, the real hype was reserved for that earthquake they had on Tuesday. I know from actual experience that a 5.9 earthquake here wouldn’t disrupt daily activities more than a few miles from the epicenter, much less cause people to panic 100 miles away. Hell, we pretty much ignored a 7.2 that was about 100 miles from downtown LA.
gogol's wife
@Bago:
It’s way too Leninist for me. I’m allergic to that kind of thing. I’m sorry, it’s a missed opportunity.
jewelbomb
Roland S. Martin needs to look up what the word “enormity” means.
Hungry Joe
Re “When we think about the enormity of King’s work … ” Okay, look, “enormity” does NOT mean massive, huge, great, etc. — it means a monstrous evil, excessively wicked, so wicked as to exceed moral boundaries. It’s a good, solid, handy word, and there are plenty of other English words that connote great size. Just because “enormity” looks and sounds like “enormous” … oh, what the hell. The battle’s probably lost by now.
Elizabelle
Funny.
Auditioning for John Stewart’s show, methinks.
EDIT: as an example of media gone wrong.
Hungry Joe
Dammit, jewelbomb, you beat me to it. I’m outraged at the enormity of your usurpation.
Davebo
Now that’s some scary shit! I was in Long Beach during one and nearly crapped my britches!
JoyousMN
If you read the comments the Martin article has generated you’ll see the racists and haters are out in full force. They feel completely free to articulate an abhorrent belief system, safe that they will find like-minded haters or at the least no opposition.
The Tea Party is not the prime cause, but I blame them for normalizing this sort of rhetoric.
Tehanu
@Davebo:
Amateurs. A 5.9 quake around here is usually good for 5 seconds of water-cooler conversation the next day: “Feel the quake yesterday?” “There was a quake?”
East Coasters always talk like earthquakes are the scariest, most awful things they can imagine. These are the same people who put up with blizzards, ice storms, nor’easters, tornadoes, locusts, and hurricanes EVERY FRIGGIN’ YEAR — whereas we have a notable quake once every 15 or 20 years, if that. True, a big quake, like the Northridge quake in 1992 (94? can’t remember) is no fun, but it only lasted 45 seconds. A friend told me about being in a big hurricane in Miami some years back: “Imagine,” he said, “if the Northridge quake had lasted for 12 hours.”
Lojasmo
Irritating that the FDR memorial, arguably the most inspirational (albeit admittedly low key) memorial on the basin, was omitted.