Will I always "too busy"?

Of the long list of rather arbitrary national holidays, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Patriot Day, President's Day, etc; I don't really care that much for them or care about their origins and only mildly about their purpose. While Memorial Day is supposed to be in remembrance of soldiers that have died in battle, it's mostly seen as the beginning of Summer. Likewise, Labor Day is more of a celebration of the end of summer. The one national holiday that I was always a big fan of was MLK, Jr Day.

As a suburban white kid from Louisville that grew up in the 80s, I have no real connection to King. But I've always appreciated the way that he, and many others in the civil rights movement, practiced nonviolent, civil disobedience. His talent as an orator, both brilliant and lyrical, will still bring tears to my eyes. During college and while we still lived in Louisville, I would often use MLK Day to read some of his speeches and essays online. I would often ask myself what I would have done during that time. I definitely think a lot of white America has a very sanitized memory of King. The peace loving preacher with a dream, not the boat rocking rabble-rouser that spoke out vehemently against prejudice, the Vietnam War, and Labor rights.

Since moving from Louisville, my experience on MLK day has been different. While at Northwestern, it was not a holiday. They did suspend classes from 10-2 and had Yolanda King (his daughter) speak, but I found it strange that school was still on. In Philly, it is a holiday at school, but I have found that I'm constantly busy with research, and have not been able to dedicate time and energy to thinking about these issues and ideas.

I like the new focus of MLK Jr Day. Now declared to be "a day of service" in remembrance of King. Now this is definitely a more worthy cause than the cookouts that I would celebrate on Memorial and Labor Days (not that those weren't fun, Word up Dupree Park!). But I find that I've been too busy to participate. Today, I had to finish a paper and maintain my cells I have growing for my experiments. In the 60s, would I have stood up for what was right, or would I have been too busy?

Or is too busy just an excuse?

The end of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's prophetic last speech from the day before he died: