Eyes On The Prize

Today is the day we celebrate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. here in the USA, a federally recognized holiday on the closest Monday to his birthday which was yesterday, January 15.  Dr. King was the foremost leader in the American Civil Rights movement of the 1960's who eschewed the non-violent protest practices he learned from Mahatma Gandhi.  One of his closest advisers and the architect of the 1963 March on Washington was Bayard Rustin, a Gay Man.  Both Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King were proponents of Civil Rights for all minorities including the LGBTQ Community.  Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986.  The essence of his philosophy is in the following quote:

"All I'm saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated, that somehow we're caught in an    inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality."

That is as true today as it was when he first spoke the words.  I am sure there will be more than enough articles et cetera written for you to read today so I will not belabor the point other than to reiterate my profound respect for the man and his methods.  One of his favorite sayings was "Keep your eyes on the prize" meaning we could endure all things as long as we were focused on the "prize" of equality which we as Gay people still seek today.  In keeping with this saying, today's featured musical composition is known as the "Prize Symphony" which is Symphony Number 5 in C Minor, Opus 52 (1835) by Franz Lachner.  Franz Paul Lachner (2 April 1803 – 20 January 1890) was a German composer and conductor.  Lachner was a well-known and prolific composer in his day, though he is not now considered a major composer. His work, influenced by Ludwig van Beethoven and his friend Franz Schubert, is regarded as competent and craftsman-like, but is now generally little known.  His Symphony Number 5 was a gargantuan work for its time, comparable to works by Schubert and Beethoven's 9th Symphony.  Today's performance is by the Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Paul Robinson and runs just over an hour albeit a beautiful hour of listening pleasure.   Following the video is this week's edition of Monday's Undies to help keep your libido in tune for this holiday Monday.  Thanks for stopping by, see you again tomorrow.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!