Circle of Hope

On Monday, January 19th several of us celebrated the life of Dr. Martian Luther King Jr. by serving with our hands and feet in Fishtown and Kensington. We took part in two projects-one located at Kensington International Business and CAPA High Schools, and the other at our space at 2007 Frankford Ave. I had the privilege of experiencing both, traveling back and forth the between the two. Someone had to take the pictures!

Forgive me if I sound naïvely optimistic, but if I had to pick one word to describe this day, I would say that it could be characterized by the word hope. You could feel hope for the neighborhood, you could feel hope for our city, and I can dare say you could feel hope for America and the world. When there’s hope people show up and take ownership of their surroundings. They even shout about it. “It’s a new day!” one woman yelled from across the street.

There were over four hundred people who showed up at the schools alongside City Year to do their part on this historic Monday. We painted lockers, murals, signs, doorways, and even basketball hoops. On the eve of the inauguration of the first black president of the United States, we served in celebration of Dr. King, who dared to show up in places that weren’t going to change unless he went himself.

Nothing is ever perfect when we show up. For one, there’s never enough paint brushes at these service days! It didn’t really matter though. Dr. King didn’t really have enough allies to bring an end to segregation, but they did it. Jesus didn’t have enough disciples to change the world, but they did. In the end I don’t think it would have mattered if we all painted the school with toothbrushes. I was encouraged to see one person actually resort to this. There seemed to be a notion that everyone was going to do their part no matter what it took.

Back at Frankford Norris everyone took a break after laying down about three quarters of the flooring in the main room (no small feat at all). We ate pizza and talked about our favorite Martin Luther King Day memories. Joshua Grace recalled how he used to go protest at Lockheed Martin on MLK Day but loved transitioning into service projects in the years that followed. I shared about how, when I was young, I loved to paint pictures of the Martin Luther King they taught us about in school. I quietly regretted how they did such a great job of “protecting” us from his frustration, faults, compassion, genius, and his belief in Jesus. I sort of wished I had a better story for everyone. Then I realized that on this day, I was wearing a tee shirt with two African American men on it-one murdered for his calls for desegregation and another elected to be president forty years later. No matter how different these two men are, they will forever symbolize what is possible when we dare to show up.