From Selma to Montgomery, the freedom march that changed our nation

26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[a] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Last evening my wife and I decided to attend the showing of the movie Selma. It is a movie about a black leader and a man of God who decided to heed the call of God and risk his life and the lives of others to bring to the public's attention the powerful impact of institutional racism on the black man and woman.

I grew up in the 1960's. It was a most turbulent time for us who did so. I would have to say that growing up in this period was the defining moment for America. It was a time when our eyes were enlightened by the horrors of racism.

From the lynchings of innocent black people to the denial of their voting rights by the local white establishment we witness for the first time those horrors through the eyes of a man of God who chose to win this battle, not with a colt 45, but through peaceful marches.

I remember reading about the Selma marches and watching as the white establishment stood on the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge with their barb wire wrapped clubs, their gas masks on, waiting for the order to attack and disperse the crowd of white, black people who were there because they were moved by the horrific situation of racism in the south.

Just before this movie came out my wife, son and I had a chance to tour the Civil Rights Museum in Montgomery, Alabama where we got the chance to read the stories of the men and woman, black and white, whose lives were taken away all in the name of fighting for the same rights that whites have had the privilege of experiencing. To think in the 60's we had separate lodging for blacks and whites, separate wash rooms, and separate educational institutions seems unimaginable to me today.

Yet, if my own Hopkins High school can be used as an example there were no blacks that I was aware of who attended that school in 1974, but today Hopkins is fully integrated with a vast array of races getting the education they never would have received in the 60's

We have made strides over the years, but the battle is not done. There is another horrific institution that continues to be a killing machine for babies of all races. It started out as a innocent sounding group called the American Birth Control League by Margaret Sanger, but this 'league' is anything but innocent. To illustrate this I am posting the video Maarfa21 and encourage you to view it when you have time:http://youtu.be/0eWxCRReTV4 As you watch this video you will notice that some very famous families who have done good became the primary contributors of this organization.

If we are serious in ending racism then we need to write our Congressman and demand that Planned Parenthood be unfunded and abortions be brought to an end.

As we honor the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. I encourage you to go see the movie Selma. The work of this movement woke up America to the dangers of racism.