My Brothers & Sisters

Friday night, there was a Poetry/Spoken Word Contest in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. here on post. I was quite impressed by much of what I heard, different styles, ways of thinking, and different messages. The one thing that remained exactly the same: all the people that walked on stage were black men.
Not that I have an issue with black men, clearly, but it seemed to defeat the purpose of MLK's work that the only people who were standing up in memory of him looked exactly like him.
So I got up there.
I didn't read anything, I just said my piece.
I said that all there were four very talented black men that had taken the stage- and I was none of the above. I said that it didn't change anything, because we are all brothers and sisters, regardless of race. I can't remember exactly what I said, but I remember my eyes watering and my face burning.
Here's a quote I recently stumbled across: "Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
What takes more faith than trusting someone of another race, another background to not screw you over? What shows more trust, more strength and courage, than to stand beside someone different from you? I saw a show on midwives the other night, and they were from very different religious and cultural backgrounds- and each of them realized, when they came together, that they had more in common than they did different.
It's hard to see, in the Army, how much people will put themselves into a clique. Much of the social groupings seem to be centered around race. Granted, this seems to be progressively less the case, but is still very plainly present. There are a few people- females, especially- who have gone out of their way to say hi to me, to talk to me, even though they are black. They have no reason to believe I'm any different than other people who have treated them badly because of their race, yet they took that leap of faith, anyway, and I am very grateful to have been given that opportunity. This is a thank you to all my brothers and sisters out there who have ever taken a chance on me- regardless of their race.