Motley Moose – Archive

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, GA, on Jan 15 in 1929.

Oh, I know we celebrate his birthday later on this month, but I wanted to think about him as a young child, and as a young man before he went on to become an icon of the civil rights movement.  

He was not so very different from many young black men born into a black middle class family.

Like many members of the black middle class his father, Michael was a preacher.

Like many members of the black middle class his mama was a teacher.

Like many members of the black middle class, the family roots were not far removed from poverty.

Even after decades of self-inspection, I can still be surprised by a sudden insight. I would venture that I’m not alone in this. Bear with me as I re-enact the twisted path I took to my latest discovery.

This most recent breakthrough came about in the usual, very roundabout way. It started with an article in the Atlantic that posited the behavior of man’s best friend is entirely driven by genetics. I found little in that article to make me rethink my knowledge of canine behavior, but it provoked further thought.

The article really pushed the idea that humans mistake a dog’s instinctive behavior as a form of love between dogs and humans. What the article didn’t mention is that science is beginning to show that many, perhaps all, forms of love are driven by brain chemistry. One study found a chemical basis for the love demonstrated by elephant mothers towards their young and another study showed a real bond between human couples that share the sex act.