Aug

Marching on Washington and Toward the MLK Dream

by Sheron Long on August 29, 2013

Lincoln Memorial, site of the MLK dream speech and where people spoke up for civil rights during the March on Washington and others began to pay it forward.

When will Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream come true?
© Thinkstock

For All Those Who Spoke Up, Who Will Pay It Forward?

Friends help friends, sometimes in silence but more significantly by speaking up for their dreams.

1963: The March on Washington

Fifty years ago, a crowd of at least 250,000 people gathered at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to raise their voices for jobs and freedom.

Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. About ten minutes into his address, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, called out:

Tell ’em about the dream, Martin.

And that was the point when King departed from his prepared speech and delivered the words we remember 50 years later:

Martin Luther King, Jr., giving the "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington. (Photo from the National Archives and Records Administration)

King giving his “I Have a Dream” speech, originally titled “Normalcy, Never Again”
(National Archives and Records Administration)

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

—from video (17:29)

Had Mahalia Jackson not called out to her friend, would the course of history be different? Who knows? But we do know, after her words, Dr. King spoke up about the dream.

This idea of speaking up as a way to thank someone else for speaking up is what’s known as paying it forward. The crowd paid King’s gift forward, too. Many went back to their homes, spoke up tirelessly for civil rights, and caused change.

Changed Lives

The impact of the experience on that sweltering August day in D.C. transformed people, black and white.

Martin Luther King, Jr., who inspired the crowd at the March on Washington to pay it forward.

Martin Luther King, Jr., greets the crowd from the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963.
(National Archives and Records Administration)

Joan Justiss Tynes was 16 then. She reflects:

. . . after that day I understood that there were two Americas and that each of us had to do something to change the laws of this land. . . . my experience at the March on Washington helped me to understand what freedom means and what we have to do to keep the doors of opportunity open.

Through the next 50 years, Tynes participated in more marches. She spoke up, talking to young black Americans about self-esteem and living the dream through education and community involvement.

Joannie Weisberger was 21 and, in her words, felt like “one tiny dot in a beautiful tapestry of humanity.” She did her part, through community advocacy and teaching in Central Harlem. She advocated for students for over 30 years, but says now:

Our work is far from done.

Two views of the National Mall in Washington D.C., the inset by Warren K. Leffler at the 1963 March on Washington and the composite by Jason E. Powell. On this site Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke up for civil rights and inspired people to pay it forward. (With appreciation to the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection for the historical photo)

Not enough change has come between the dates of these photos taken of the Mall in Washington D.C.
(Inset photo by Warren K. Leffler at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963,
and composite photo by Jason E. Powell on July 10, 2012)

Charles Dumas was a teenager, not yet eligible to vote. He remembers:

I felt called to do my part. The bombing of the Birmingham church a week later and the assassination of President Kennedy a few months after only intensified the tempest that was storming inside me. By late Spring of the following year, 1964, I was in Mississippi, one of the hundreds of civil rights workers, who had come to register people for the Freedom Democratic Party, many of us were jailed for their efforts, some were killed.

For the full text of these reflections and others, visit “I Was There.” For interviews by Michael Fletcher with the leaders and organizers of the 1963 March, visit The Smithsonian.

2013: The 50th Anniversary March on Washington

Many ordinary Americans as well as the leaders and organizers of the 1963 March attended the 50th Anniversary March yesterday and the bell-ringing ceremony by MLKDream50.

From the events, two questions ring loud:

How far have we come in 50 years?
How far do we still need to march to redeem the dream?

Conclusions will differ, but before you answer, take a minute to find your “Oh, I see” moments in this infographic from the Huffington Post.

If one of those moments inspires you to speak up—for justice in law enforcement and courtrooms, for opportunities in classrooms and workplaces, or for fairness and respect among people—you’ll be paying forward a gift from those who spoke up at the two Marches on Washington and the 50 years in between.

♥

The King Center offers a digital archive of over one million documents related to King’s life and is a repository for over 4,000 dreams submitted to the site. Add your own!

The Warren Leffler photograph resides in the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Sheron Long 1 Comment

Language & Culture/Making a Difference/USA

Mar

10 Cultural Do’s and Taboos: Chatting Around the World

by Janine Boylan on March 4, 2013

surprised girl, illustrating cultural taboos in conversation

It’s a good idea to know cultural taboos before you speak!
© Thinkstock

Hot (and Not So Hot) Topics

There are certain things you just shouldn’t talk about.

I’ve had a few Oh, I see moments around this—what is a culturally taboo topic in one place may not be in another. And, on the flip side, what is acceptable in one country, may be taboo in another. Sometimes it’s not until you’ve made the mistake that you learn the rules.

In some countries, including the United States, Indonesia, and Sierra Leone, asking adults about their age is generally considered taboo. In Vietnam, however, it is an important inquiry. The way you address someone older than you is different from how you address people younger than you.
“Are you married?” is a harmless question most places, but, in Afghanistan, it is considered rude to ask a woman this question.
Politics, religion, economic and social issues? Many avoid these topics when first meeting someone. In Nigeria, people love to discuss these topics and more—and strangers will join right in conversations to share their opinions.
Have a good joke? In places like Venezuela and Uganda, simple jokes are welcome. But if you are a man meeting a Yemeni woman in a business situation, jokes will not only fall flat, but they may also be seen as inappropriate and strain the meeting.
In many places like Taiwan, Sudan, and Syria, asking about one’s family is a welcome topic, but, in rural Thailand, it should be avoided until the speakers are well-acquainted.
Discussing one’s weight is considered appropriate in Ecuador; in the Democratic Republic of Congo being overweight is a sign of good health and mentioning it can be considered a compliment. Don’t try this in the United States.
Calling people by their names without their permission is offensive in Cambodia.
In Costa Rica, avoid talking about investments, money, or the market.
“How much do you make?” is considered a rude question in countries like Croatia, Germany, and the United States; in China and Ecuador, it is a normal topic of conversation.
In Thailand, it is actually against the law to criticize the royal family.

So how do you avoid cultural taboos when chatting around the world?

It’s always safe to talk about the weather!

The Centre for Intercultural Learning has a long list of cultural conversation do’s and taboos, sortable by country.

Kwintessential has a guide to culture, customs, and etiquette, presented by country.

VIA Adam Wooten, Deseret News

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Janine Boylan 4 Comments

Crossing Cultures/Cultural Do's & Taboos/Language & Culture/Worldwide Sites

Feb

Language Speaks Volumes About Cultural Differences

by Janine Boylan on February 18, 2013

Language can reveal so much about the values and priorities in a culture. That’s why I love learning about different languages and discovering the richness of cultural differences. Perhaps Rita Mae Brown best described the connection between language and culture when she said:

Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.

One Thousand Names

What would you call this animal? To me, it is simply a reindeer.

Reindeer, illustrating that languages reflect cultural differences

People in Norway rely heavily on reindeer like this one for transportation as well as for food. Owners need to easily identify their animals. So the people have developed very precise language to talk about the animals.

Dr. Ole Henrik Magga reports that, in the Northern Saami language in Norway, there are over 1000 words that each convey a precise description of a reindeer, based on its gender, age, and appearance. For example, the word váža is used to describe a full-grown female reindeer which has already had a calf. And a siekŋa-njunni is a reindeer whose hair around its nostrils is a different and unexpected color from the rest of its hair.

Oh I see! The details in language are a wonderful mirror of the culture in which the language grows.

Shades of Blue

In English, we use the word “blue” to describe all shades of the color from sky blue to deep indigo. The Russian language does not have a single word for blue, instead it separates blue into light blues (goluboy) and dark blues (siniy).

Lera Boroditsky has done a number of studies on language. She reports that it is easier for native Russian speakers to see the subtle differences in shades of blue because, since childhood, they have been calling the two blues by distinct names. Similarly, she found that people who grew up speaking English had greater difficulty distinguishing between differences in the shades of blue.

Oh, I see! The words you know can shape the world you see.

A Cell is a Cell (Or Is It?)

A mobile, a cell, a cellular, a portable—those are all words used to describe cellular phones in different parts of the word.

cell phone, illustrating that language speaks of cultural differences

In Sweden, another word for mobile phone is nalle, a teddy bear. The term was coined in the 1980s when portable phones were very expensive and only newly rich “yuppies” were able to buy them. People called the phones yuppienalle, the yuppie teddy bear, to mock owners and their expensive “toys.” But the teddy bear term stuck.

And, in Germany, the device is called a “handy.” One source says the name came from the Word War II “Handie Talkie,” the handheld walkie talkie the troops used. Since that time, the term has been used for various mobile devices, and today is synonymous with a mobile phone.

Oh, I see! Languages add new words all the time, and sometimes there’s a cultural spin.

Language is a wonderful window into cultural differences! What is the most interesting thing you have learned about a culture through its language?