Pride in the Name of Love

Twofer to start: Happy Birthday to my youngest sister (who secretly, and sometimes not so, I suspect regards her two older sisters as drafts), Jill and welcome to earth to my niece's daughter, Zoe, who arrived yesterday (that traffic uptown is brutal, ain't it?).

This is a long weekend for a lot of people, and that may be how most of us see this. Monday is a federal holiday (I almost typed legal as if we had illegal holidays, which only applies to smiles, the last time I checked) in observance of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. I'm not sure that many of us sometimes get caught up in the 'three dayness' of these weekends and the reason for them gets lost somewhere.

A lot of municipalities across the nation will join hands, if only for the day, to honor the life (and death) of a human being remembered for his humanity at a time in our country's history of chaos and uncertainty. By espousing and embodying charity and kindness in a cruel world, he not only helped make a difference, but, himself, became the difference. We are not the just and fair society we aspire to be, as he (with so many others throughout the history of our republic) hoped we would be, but we are getting there, even if the progress is slow and the journey is long. Next year, Jerusalem. But who saves Port-au-Prince this year?

Here in Norwich we'll have another installment of our annual remembrance at City Hall. My daughter and I used to attend and march to the church (I never go in; I'm sure God has long since forgiven me, but I'm not sure I can say the same) with many of the same faces I see in the grocery store during the rest of the year, but we're always joined by one or two new people and that's a warming thought on what some years has been a cold day. If you can't join us where we are, I hope you can celebrate where you are.

After the speeches, the newspaper editorials and all the gestures, sincere as they will be, instead of going home or to the mall, why not make the day count for people who have nothing and yet always seem to lose even more, the victims of the natural catastrophe in Haiti. I've never been there, and probably never will, but in the video and photos of Haiti, in good times, the poverty is overwhelming.

I know I cannot even imagine what a calamity like this leaves in its wake, but now is not the time to wring our hands in sorrow or clench our fists in anger that so much sadness can befall one people. Do not hestitate because there is too much to do--act so that each one can reach one and help save those who can be saved, because by doing so we save ourselves.

This is the time and we are the people who can help, and what better time to do it than this weekend as we honor the life and work of Dr. King? You don't have to move more than a finger--take your cell phone and text "Haiti" to the number 90999. Your text message will result in a $10 donation to the Red Cross. Or you can text "Yele" to 501501. That will result in a $5 donation to Yéle Haiti, a grassroots organization started by singer and Haiti native Wyclef Jean. Here are some links to other no-red-tape organizations already on the ground on the island where the hurt is now: UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders and Partners in Health.

"One man caught on a barbed wire fence.

One man he resists.

One man washed on an empty beach.

One man betrayed with a kiss.

In the name of love!

What more in the name of love?
In the name of love!
What more? In the name of love!"

-bill kenny