Put a Period on It

If you can't say Black Lives Matter with a period at the end,

If you have to add All Lives Matter,

What I hear is

I cannot aver that your life is important in and of itself;

I cannot, for a brief instant, celebrate your existence;

I must I must I must see you in reference to someone else;

You cannot simply be.

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Recently, the City of Biloxi, Mississippi sent a tweet reminding folks that city offices would be closed for "Great Americans Day".

That's Martin Luther King Day to the rest of us.

Turns out, for the past 30 years, the city has proclaimed the third Monday in January as a day to honor not only Dr. King but also, "…other great Americans who have made important contributions to the birth, growth, and evolution of this country."

Thanks to Marc Bernardin and Andrew Kaczynski for this photo

There could be no celebration dedicated solely to Dr. King; his achievements could not be seen as valuable in and of themselves. He had to be put into a pantheon of unnamed others, referenced against anonymity. He could not simply be.