"Man in the Mirror"

If you haven’t looked at your calendar lately, this past weekend was Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. I’m a big fan of MLK Day for a couple of reasons. First, I love a good three-day weekend. But really, who doesn’t? Second, this particular day signifies the half way mark until my birthday on the 28^th. Finally, I love MLK Day because as an adult, I can now appreciate and understand the enormous impact that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had on this country. With this said, I made it my own personal goal to participate in a service project or community program to honor the legacy of MLK this weekend.

What did I do? I went to the library! Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend the dedication of the library at St. Colubanus, which is a historically African-American Catholic church on Chicago’s Southside. The church also has an affiliated parochial school and is over 100 years old. I was invited to the dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony because the Junior League sponsored the renovation of the library at parochial school. Seeing the appreciation on the parishioner’s faces made me so proud to be a member of the League. The experience as a whole was amazing.

First, the special service I attended to honor MLK was beautiful. It took place in the striking sanctuary of the church that was built in the 1940’s. The church was breathtaking and is exactly what a church should look like. The program was just as perfect and it featured everything from speeches about the importance of the holiday to traditional hymns. The children’s choir even sang Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.” 

After the program, the library was opened to public. The Junior League of Chicago donated about 1,500 books to the newly redesigned library. The library also features new carpeting as well as a fresh coat of paint. It’s small but lovely. To me, it was a perfect way to spend as Sunday afternoon.