<html aria-label="message body"><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div dir="auto" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-width: normal; font-size: 25.299999px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">Threnody, Hymn, or Rallying Song? </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-width: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; font-size: 20px;"><span style="font-kerning: none">to Martin Luther King Jr.<br>
on the 50th anniversary of his murder </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-width: normal; font-size: 25.299999px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">I have mined the great one's words<br>
for his brightest gems of wisdom<br>
to mark the fifty years since his murder.<br>
Was it their brilliance that blinded me with tears? Or was it that memory of half a century ago<br>
that truly made of April a cruel month?<br>
When such a voice for justice is silenced<br>
the whole world suffers a great wound<br>
& truth itself must wear the veils of mourning. Doubly painful this day is that fools & liars<br>
sit upon the chairs of power & govern us<br>
in a democracy grown rotten,<br>
bitten as it was from its beginnings<br>
by the worm of slavery & conquest,<br>
justice but a word frayed, chewed<br>
by dogs of greed, hypocrites & knaves.<br>
Should we mark this day with a threnody,<br>
or with a hymn, or with a rallying song<br>
to bring us to the streets clamoring<br>
for the justice & peace of which he spoke<br>
to come rolling down like water<br>
in a mighty stream? Such is our choice,<br>
but as for me, I am here to sing the rallying song.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-width: normal; font-size: 22.700001px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Rafael Jesús González </span></p><div style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-width: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; font-size: 22px;"><span style="font-kerning: none"><img alt="unknown.png" data-width="142" src="cid:E9C8ABF5-D04B-462F-81AB-1CCDC407C919"> </span></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-width: normal; font-size: 25.299999px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">¿Lamento, himno, o canto a la acción? </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-width: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal; font-size: 20px;"><span style="font-kerning: none">a Martin Luther King Jr.<br>
en el 50 aniversario de su asesinato </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-width: normal; font-size: 25.299999px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none">He minado las palabras del grande<br>
por la más brillantes joyas de su saber<br>
para marcar los cincuenta años de su asesinato.<br>
¿Sería su brillantez que me cegó con lágrimas?<br>
¿O sería la memoria hace medio siglo<br>
que verdaderamente hizo de abril un mes amargo? Cuando se silencia tal voz por la justicia<br>
todo el mundo sufre una gran herida<br>
y la verdad misma debe vestir velos de luto.<br>
Lo doble penoso este día es que imbéciles y embusteros ocupan las sillas del poder y nos gobiernan<br>
en una democracia hecha podrida<br>
mordida como la fue desde sus principios<br>
por el gusano de la esclavitud y la conquista,<br>
la justicia solamente una palabra deshilada, mascada por los perros de la codicia, hipócritas y canallas. ¿Debemos marcar este día con un lamento<br>
o con un himno, o con un canto a la acción<br>
para sacarnos a las calles clamando<br>
por la justicia y la paz de las cuales habló<br>
que vengan rodando como agua<br>
en poderosa corriente? Tales son nuestras opciones, pero en cuanto a mí, vengo a cantar el canto a la acción.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-width: normal; font-size: 22.700001px; line-height: normal; font-family: Palatino; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;"><span style="font-kerning: none"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Rafael Jesús González</span></p></div></body></html>