This month of February is Black History Month.
Not too long ago, I got on a bus in a southern city, paid my fare, moved into the aisle and took a seat in the second row from the front. Sitting next to me was a young black lady. I would judge her to have been in her early twenties. We acknowledged one another with an exchange, and, from there, a bit of small talk.
As we rode along, I got to thinking about what the two of us were doing. I would really like to have asked her a question, a history question. “Do you know who Rosa Parks and Fred Gray were?” I did not ask. As the bus continued, I wondered if she would know how significant these two people were in what she and I were currently doing.
What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
leaning of the everlasting arms.
Oh, how sweet to walk in the pilgrim way,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
Oh how bright the path grows from day to day,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
leaning on the everlasting arms?
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms.
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
By the way, I once spent a portion of a day with that lawyer, Fred Gray, who also represented Martin Luther King.
February 25, 2011
Keep on,
Larry Adamson