To the editor:

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day on Monday and the inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday have made this a historic and exciting week.

Using Biblical metaphors common to the African American experience, two different generations — the Moses and Joshua generations — coincided on this week.

Martin Luther King Day commemorates and celebrates the Christian nonviolent activism of Dr. King and thousands of sharecroppers, students and preachers who participated — often at great personal sacrifice, physical risk and to some martyrdom — to end the degradation of segregation and remove race based restrictions on voting. They envisioned a “Beloved Community” of racial justice and harmony. In Dr. King’s words … “He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”

The Moses generation broke down legal barriers, but only glimpsed the vision of a “Beloved Community.” They did not see the “Beloved Community” come to fruition but still sang “We Shall Overcome, Someday.”

It would take another generation, one born during and after the great struggle for equality, to enter the Promised Land. The Joshua generation with the election of Barack Obama has broken down the political walls. Their mantra is “Yes We Can!” The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States is an event the Moses generation could not imagine happening in their lifetime.

Economic injustice still remains the unfinished business of The Movement, and to that we continue to say, “We Shall Overcome.”

However, to the joyous happenings of this historic week I can only add. Wow, what a great time we live in!

Dick Hall

Coupeville