I thought that the presentations made by players at last night's Thunder game, even though by video, were good. And I just felt like saying, and that it should be said, thanks be for this day and for the better days which have come our way due to MLK Jr.

Indirectly or directly, those better days include but are not limited to the presence, indeed, dominance, of black athletes in the NBA and in the best entertainment ever to come OKC's way (that would be the Thunder) to tomorrow's oath of office by our nation's 1st black president. These are such better times than they once were in no small measure because of Martin Luther King Jr.

So, here's to you, MLK JR. Should you not know it, before he became prominent nationally, he is reported to have aspired to become the pastor at Deep Deuce's Calvary Baptist Church even though he was not offered the opportunity.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/deepdeuce/calvarybaptist.jpg

Should you care to read what I have written about Deep Deuce, you can start here: Doug Dawgz Blog: Deep Deuce Prologue (http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2006/11/deep-deuce-prologue.html).

Great post, Doug! As always, thanks for all the hard work you put into telling the story of this community.

Thanks Doug for the post and tribute to this great man . . . Not many have had more of an impact for right, justice and individual freedom than Martin Luther King Jr.

The story I heard was that he did a guest sermon at the Calvary Babtist Church, mol an interview for the congregation, but was deemed too young, too inexperienced and was passed over . . . in any case, he was destined for greatness. A man whose walk matched his talk.

I watched an hour or so of the parade downtown. It looked like a really good turnout on this sunny winter Oklahoma day. I heard that there were about a hundred entrants in the parade. The Douglas High Trojan Band was steppin' out, sounding and looking good . . . a few floats . . . some vintgage cars . . . about 15 styled up Chrysler 300 sedans . . . several church groups . . . but mostly lots of happy smiling people.

Michael

Pray For World Peace . . . pass it on

I agree. Happy Martin Luther King Day! I've been watching the pre-inaugural coverage, and it's cool that MLK Day preceds the inauguration by just one day. What a long way the US has thankfully come in the past half century.