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“Mommy, does the President make doodoo?”

“Yes, he is human like the rest of us. Everyone makes doodoo.”

“Is it white?”

“No, it is the same color as yours and mine.”

“Does it smell?”

“Yes it does smell, like I said everyone makes doodoo and they all have to sit or squat to do it and it smells.”

I remember that conversation with my mother like it was yesterday. When I was younger, we often went to Washington D.C to visit my uncle. During our visits, we would visit the White House. I do not remember ever seeing a bathroom and just could not imagine that the President or anyone famous could possibly use the bathroom like I do. My world consisted of my family. The only time I saw anyone different was at school or on television. I was fortunate that I was able to ask my parents any question no matter how ridiculous it might have sounded.  Life was simple.

Times are different now. We have the internet. Those simple questions do not come with simple answers when you pose the questions on the internet.  You have to be able to sift through the information to find what is true and what is false.

I was disturbed by the events that occurred on January 6^th in Washington D.C. It was hard to believe that what I saw on the news was really happening in the United States of America. I kept thinking I would wake up and it would be a dream. It was real.

If Martin Luther King were alive today, he would be 92 years old. What would MLK say about all of this? Can we tap into some words of wisdom? Here are the three quotes that came to mind.

Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.

People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.

I hope each of you will take time to reflect on what Martin Luther King, Jr. had to say. For me, it has so much relevance when we think of all that has happened since the last time we celebrated MLK Day in 2020.