The Legacy Lives On

 

I often miss my days at the Discovery Center, and enjoyed the people I met while planning the big MLK celebration at the museum, but today I am happy to have the day off. I had the opportunity to work with an event the Girl Scouts were hosting today, where Madelyn Scales-Harris, Vice Mayor of Murfreesboro spoke. Her words brought tears to my eyes as she described how she wanted to be in Girl Scouts in the mid-1950’s, and her mom, Mary Scales, asked her why, and she told her the uniform looked cool.  Her mom told her to look up Girl Scouts in the encyclopedia to see if she could learn something about Girl Scouts to make sure she really did want to do it. As she did this, she knew she wanted to be a Girl Scout! In the late 1950’s a troop was organized that she was able to join. She told the girls how much she treasured her uniform, and she was devastated when her uniform burned when her family’s house burned in a fire. Scales shared more about her experience on City Council, and had some words of advice. We need more women to run for council. She only had a short time to speak.

Her story reminded me of how I used to work with her mother, Mary Scales as we planned the MLK Celebration at Patterson Park every year. (I wrote about this 9 years ago. Please take a moment to read my original post: The Passion of the Civil Rights Movement. ) I would sit down and listen to Mary tell me terrifying stories of how she had crosses burned in her yard after her husband was elected the first African American to the Murfreesboro City Council.  She told me stories of how she was the first African American teacher at MTSU, and how that was a struggle at times. She also told me how much she loved Murfreesboro and wanted to celebrate how far we have come. (And yes, we have a long way to go, as I was reminded today by the young woman who volunteered with us from Memphis.)

I hope as you reflect on Dr. King’s legacy today that you find a place to give back in your own community.