Reflections


Reflections...
The Penn Center on St. Helena Island was founded in 1862 as the first school in the South for newly freed men and women. In January 2017, President Barack Obama named the Center a Reconstruction Era National Monument.
The Center also served as the only location in South Carolina where interracial groups could come together during the Civil Rights Movement. http://www.sciway.net/afam/penn.html Martin Luther King, Jr. met at the Penn Center with other thought leaders of his time to debate the future of the Civil Rights Movement.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/us/04retreat.html. King stayed at the Gantt cottage, which was not open the day I visited, but I caught a reflection of his portrait through the window and circled the outside of the cottage hoping to touch some of the same soil where King walked.
How could I not be inspired?
Gantt cottage is where portions of one of the most famous speeches in history were written. "I Have a Dream" was later delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/…/i-have-dream-address-d…
The third Monday of each January is a federal holiday to remember Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth and life as a civil rights leader. This year, it falls on his true date of birth, January 15.
More than a holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is designated as a "Day of Service."
"Everybody can be great ... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
What will you do to serve?
~ LowTide explorer, Carolyn Fjeran


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