I forget keys, I forget my phone, I forget things all the time but November 5th, 2009 was one of those nights you just don't forget. I had the honor and privilege to meet Rev. Billy Kyles, he was the keynote speaker at the Annual Benefit Dinner for the Facing History and Ourselves organization. Their work is based on the premise that "we need to- and can- teach civic responsibility, tolerance, ethics, understanding and social action to young people." They accomplish this through innovative and relevant studies, personal accounts and emotional connections to the Holocaust and other examples of genocide, Civil Rights Movements and other violent human experiences representative of our not so better history.
I was lucky enough to attend that night on behalf of MPACT Memphis and as a guest of Michael Terry, a board member of the organization. Our table was center stage and only one row back from the front of a room with over 700 people in it (this proved to be a great seat too). I immediately noticed the size and set up and began to think this may not be a typical dinner event, yet in all honesty I wasn't exactly sure what I was trekking into. That changed and did so pretty quickly. The night was filled with remarkable accounts and stories from both educators and students alike all of whom participating in a program that reaches over 1.8 million students in countries all over the world.
For those not familiar with Reverend Billy Kyles, he was a young local civil rights leader involved in the integration of Memphis's school system, restaurants, buses and other public areas of the city and oh, did I also mention that he happen to be the only one standing next to Dr. King just outside of room 306 at the Lorraine Motel on April 4th, 1968. The only one standing out there when the shot was fired that silenced Kings physical heart, while simultaneously amplifying the heartbeat of his cause. Forty one years, seven months and one day later, less than 1 mile away from where he was standing in 1968 it was now an older Rev. Kyles at the lectern this time, yet still delivering a fiery, detailed and gripping account of the assassination and its surrounding events.
We were reminded vividly of the genuine courage that was evident with all those involved during this deadly fight to simply be treated as human beings, no more no less.
We were reminded honorably that their fame and attention wasn't about fame at all, no self-serving reasons, no internal scandals, schemes or ulterior motives. King came to Memphis and lost his life fighting for 1300 sanitation workers to get a .10 cent per hour raise and did so knowing full and well that his time on earth could certainly be cut short for it.
We were reminded passionately that you cannot sway, you cannot quell, you cannot break, beat nor defeat a sympathetic and humane cause propelled by people willing to sacrifice everything for it. In Kyles own words "you can kill the dreamer but you cannot kill the dream."
And most profound to me, we were reminded that we are never to young to do something worth writing about. You see at the ages of 39, 33, 35 and 27, not one of them in the photograph (pictured above) was over the age of 40.
Now in his seventies, and speaking to a world far removed from where it once was Rev. Kyles (to an absolute standing ovation) started making his way back down to his table which happened to be behind us. Now when 700 people stand up, start to cheer and then just turn every which way to look at you, I imagine it could become a bit difficult to see. He came through the isle right in front of me and at a slow pace, just looking around not in admiration the applause or people, but more of exploration. He walked right to me as I shook his hand and leaned towards him I just said "thank you" to which he smiled patted my shoulder, looked me in the eye (people still standing and applauding loudly) and said "hmm...I lost my seat". We both laughed as I offered him mine then as the crowd began to conform he found it, but not before I got to say thank you and shake the hand of man who over his lifetime helped so many others find their own way.
I was lucky enough to attend that night on behalf of MPACT Memphis and as a guest of Michael Terry, a board member of the organization. Our table was center stage and only one row back from the front of a room with over 700 people in it (this proved to be a great seat too). I immediately noticed the size and set up and began to think this may not be a typical dinner event, yet in all honesty I wasn't exactly sure what I was trekking into. That changed and did so pretty quickly. The night was filled with remarkable accounts and stories from both educators and students alike all of whom participating in a program that reaches over 1.8 million students in countries all over the world.
For those not familiar with Reverend Billy Kyles, he was a young local civil rights leader involved in the integration of Memphis's school system, restaurants, buses and other public areas of the city and oh, did I also mention that he happen to be the only one standing next to Dr. King just outside of room 306 at the Lorraine Motel on April 4th, 1968. The only one standing out there when the shot was fired that silenced Kings physical heart, while simultaneously amplifying the heartbeat of his cause. Forty one years, seven months and one day later, less than 1 mile away from where he was standing in 1968 it was now an older Rev. Kyles at the lectern this time, yet still delivering a fiery, detailed and gripping account of the assassination and its surrounding events.
We were reminded vividly of the genuine courage that was evident with all those involved during this deadly fight to simply be treated as human beings, no more no less.
We were reminded honorably that their fame and attention wasn't about fame at all, no self-serving reasons, no internal scandals, schemes or ulterior motives. King came to Memphis and lost his life fighting for 1300 sanitation workers to get a .10 cent per hour raise and did so knowing full and well that his time on earth could certainly be cut short for it.
We were reminded passionately that you cannot sway, you cannot quell, you cannot break, beat nor defeat a sympathetic and humane cause propelled by people willing to sacrifice everything for it. In Kyles own words "you can kill the dreamer but you cannot kill the dream."
And most profound to me, we were reminded that we are never to young to do something worth writing about. You see at the ages of 39, 33, 35 and 27, not one of them in the photograph (pictured above) was over the age of 40.
Now in his seventies, and speaking to a world far removed from where it once was Rev. Kyles (to an absolute standing ovation) started making his way back down to his table which happened to be behind us. Now when 700 people stand up, start to cheer and then just turn every which way to look at you, I imagine it could become a bit difficult to see. He came through the isle right in front of me and at a slow pace, just looking around not in admiration the applause or people, but more of exploration. He walked right to me as I shook his hand and leaned towards him I just said "thank you" to which he smiled patted my shoulder, looked me in the eye (people still standing and applauding loudly) and said "hmm...I lost my seat". We both laughed as I offered him mine then as the crowd began to conform he found it, but not before I got to say thank you and shake the hand of man who over his lifetime helped so many others find their own way.
In the words of George Bernard Shaw "The reasonable man looks to adapt himself to the conditions that surround him...The unreasonable man adapts the conditions that surround him to himself. All progress depends on the unreasonable man."
A special thanks goes to the Facing History Organization, Mr. Terry and MPACT Memphis for allowing me such a great experience.
