Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics...

Sara and I have both managed to get eye infections.

It was sunny and cool today, so I went on a long bike ride. First I rode downtown and saw part of the MLK parade and the other MLK Day festivities at the Civic Center. The parade was nice, but for some reason, there were a lot of horses in it, so it didn't smell very good. The other downside is that I was the only white person I saw there, and don't think I didn't look. I tried not to let it make me uncomfortable, but it did. The longer I was there, the more I didn't get it. And I didn't get it when my sister looked at me like I was nuts and said "Why?" when I told her where I'd been.

It reminded me of the first day back to school after MLK Day, when the Key Club would include a quote from him in the morning prayer. And every year, it was said by the same student, the only black member of the Key Club (there weren't many black students at my private high school). And I wondered then if there was some rule that he was the only one who could quote MLK.

It's like white people don't seem to feel entitled to celebrate MLK Day. Maybe because of the whole "white guilt" thing, or maybe because I live in the South, but either way, I don't get it. It's sad if black people are the only ones who celebrate MLK Day, because it's not as if he believed in special rights for blacks. He was about equality for all, and that's a message that everyone should be able to celebrate. On the same note, I don't feel that Obama's win is a victory for black America. That reminds me of high school too, when my theology told me that JKF's win was a victory for Catholics (because he was the first Catholic president). JFK's win was a victory for everyone, because it proved that America was wiser, more tolerant, and knew not to judge a man by his religion alone. The same goes for Obama. His win is proof of how far we've all come.

Anyway... when I took Sable on a walk today, we were followed by a stray dog I'd never seen before (and I know a lot of the dogs in the neighborhood). It was odd, because he was a little puppy, very energetic and frisky, and black all over -- all things that Sable used to be. It was almost like young Sable had sprung out of 1996 and was following us along. I don't think 2009 Sable liked him. He spent the rest of the afternoon being depressed.

Sara and I went shopping yesterday and right inside the entrance, there was a display right with packages of a dozen cupcakes. They had red, white, and blue frosting, and half of them had tiny rice-paper pictures of MLK, and other half, Obama. I loved that we should've gotten some, but we didn't. MLK cupcakes are more delicious than regular cupcakes because they taste like justice and equality!