The Rev. Jesse Jackson, The Rev. Al Sharpton, Congressman John Lewis, Cory Booker, Julian Bond, Myrlie Evers-Williams were just a few of the noted speakers who stood on the steps of Lincoln Memorial on Saturday to commemorate and reaffirm the Dream that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of 50 years ago.
But the person who had the biggest influence on my experience was from a man whose name I will never know.
He wore a t-shirt with Trayvon Martin’s face on the front and President Obama’s quote, “If I had a son he would look like Trayvon Martin” on the back.
The man had maneuvered his way from the general public area to the press access and stood just beyond the gate separating the two.
Full of energy, he acted in the same way that some of the more fervent worshippers at your traditional Baptist church carry on – encouraging every speaker with shouts and waving his hands as to say ‘amen.’ From time to time he would stop and wave to the masses as if he were the one at the podium.
Unlike his shirt implied, his son (if he had any) probably looked nothing like Trayvon – or President Obama – but it didn’t stop the elderly Asian man from being caught up in the moment.
“Sharp-tone” (his pronunciation of Sharpton). He yelled as if was attempting to make sure the tens of thousands heard his shouts. “Sharp-tone.”
He was intriguing to say the least. I wanted to approach him, but the idea of interrupting his moment didn’t seem like an option.
But I got lucky. He was so fired up by “Sharp-tone” that his “Trayvon’s Law” and “End Racial Profiling” posters slipped from his hands.
I seized the moment – grabbing the posters and handing them back to him. He gave me a customary bow.
“Where are you from,” I asked.
“California. I drove two days to get here,” he replied with a smile.
“No, where are you from originally,” I asked.
“This my country too,” he said in an irritated tone – and a thick accent. “I pledge allegiance to American flag for 70 years before I come to America.”
He was from the Philippines – and reminded me that his country was a U.S. territory for many, many years.
After his history/geography lesson, he proceeded to really school me.
“White people come to America, they are hero,” he said. “Brown and yellow people, they are criminal. My family want better life, so we come here. I’m 82 years old and I have good life because I come to America. We make America good. White people, black people, brown people, yellow people. We make it good. We don’t make it bad.”
“Sharp-tone,” he interrupted himself to say.
He waved and pointed at Sharpton. Before I could get his name or snap his picture, the Asian man in the Trayvon Martin t-shirt with an Obama button on his bucket hat had moved on to get a prime marching space.
I thought about his assumption that my inquiry regarding his ethnicity was an attack on his patriotism.
I loved how he made no apologies and took in all of the other people from a myriad of backgrounds who participated to proudly display their stake in Dr. King’s dream – which is essentially the American dream.
“America is for everybody,” he said before he walked away. “We all come together. We make America better. We are here together today and America is good. This is America. White people, brown people, yellow people, black people. Dr. King say that. ‘Sharp-tone’ say that. I say that too.”
