MEMORIES FROM 

50 YEARS AGO

In 1968 we lived in Minnesota and I worked in downtown Minneapolis. Here is some of my memories from this week fifty years ago.  Since  I was on a leadership development track at a large company we moved frequently as I was sent to various departments and locations. Since we would be in each location only 12-18 months my wife and I had decided to get involved in each community as soon as we arrived. Here we got involved in politics and participation in Dr King's crusade.

Many weekend found us in civil rights marches and solidarity building events. We even traveled to Milwaukee Wisconsin to join relatives in civil rights marches and rallies there. The murder of Dr King on April fourth triggered a very emotional response in the community. There was a palpable sense of grief, anger and fear in the community. The city wisely decided to not overreact to the anger and fear and actively supported a community memorial for Dr King to be held in a downtown park on a workday during lunch hour.

I told my boss that I planned to attend the memorial and might be gone longer than the normal lunch hour and that if he had a problem with that I would take a vacation day. He assured me I could attend the Memorial without taking a vacation day.  He asked me if the Black employees would want to attend. I had talked with each of them about Dr King the day following the assassination. I told him that the younger men were angry and the older men were fear filled. He asked me to check with them about attending as a group.

I talked with the black employees and we planned to attend the service together. An older black employee did not want to go out of fear that there would be retribution, if not from the company, from fellow employees. The boss granted permission for us to leave 15 minutes early and return as soon as possible after the memorial service.

The memorial did not end the anger and fear but did allow the grief felt by the Black community, much of the white community and many of our governmental leaders to be shared. It also allowed us to honor, publicly,  the Christian Martyr that had given us such hope of solidarity with our neighbors.

Twenty years later I was travelling on company business and found myself seated next to an executive from another department of my company on a long flight. As we talked the subject of our respective careers and we shared details of where we had been station and accomplished. At one point he asked me, "where you that first line supervisor in Minneapolis that led a walkout?" I had never heard that one. An example of how the rumor mill works in a company. While there was a major union walkout while I was in Minneapolis, I never thought of this employee group attending a community memorial service for Martin Luther King as a "walkout".

May the spirit of Dr King help us rebuild the solidarity that he preached and lived.

The Death of an American Hero

Forty years ago today Martin Luther King Junior, the American Christian leader, was assassinated in Memphis, Tn. It was a traumatic time. In many cities grief turned to anger and violence. In Indianapolis, however, there was little violence due, some think, to the fact that presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy attending a rally in the inner city told the crowd of Reverend King’s death and stood with them in solidarity. In the city where I lived a similar scene ensued.

Those of us who had been in the marches and protests seeking housing, employment and financial equality for our minority neighbors now went to our inner city to stand together in the solidarity of our shared grief. Opponent argued that doing this was offensive and that we should leave “them” to grieve alone in their own neighborhood. The example of the martyr reminded us God’s recommendation for our solidarity on this day.

“Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.” [Matthew 5:11, NAB]

In comparison to some other large cites our solidarity may have also earned us another blessing.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” [Matthew 5:9]

On the day of Reverend King’s funeral our city leaders planned a public commemoration at a downtown park scheduled for midday. I planned to take a vacation day so that I could participate fully in this event. I discovered, however, that while some of the African American employees wanted to attend but didn’t have the option of an impromptu vacation day as I did as a supervisor. I felt that additional employees might want to attend also. I approached the office manager a proposed that I and those employees that wished to attend the service would be granted an extended lunch break on that day. My status as a supervisor and the boss’s ok would shield the participating employees from any repercussions from peers or union rules. The plan was approved. This exercise in solidarity defused at least somewhat the fears rampant in the community and in our office. The prayers and the eulogies certainly helped us bear our grief.

A few years later I was introduced to an executive of the company. In an effort to place me he asked where I had worked. When I said that I had been a supervisor in city X in 1968 he said, “Oh, your that liberal supervisor that lead a walkout in city X.” This was an example of acting on Christian ideals getting me classified as politically liberal.