Hey, wait! What is that the one Black Peanuts’ character on the wall? Unusual!
It is a hot summer day. My husband and I are happy to take a road trip.
The trip is to relieve stress and celebrate my husband’s birthday. We go to the Roller Coaster Capital of the World; Cedar Point Amusement Park. Cedar Point is on Lake Erie.
Due to Covid, Cedar Point is closed. Every summer millions of people visit Cedar Point but not this year. Only the hotel, beach and one dining hall on the edge of the park are open but with limited reservations.
At the same time, Covid19 is spreading. The heat from the tension of Derek Chauvin’s foot on George Floyd’s neck is hanging in the air like the smell of rotten eggs.
Covid has given a new life for the need to be woke. The Urban Dictionary defines woke as being aware of social and political environments. This need to be woke is on the lips and minds of everyone in my inner and outer circles.
On our first day at Cedar Point, my husband and I took a relaxing morning walk on the beach. Next, we go to breakfast at the dining hall. As we enter the dining hall, I see a large picture of a Black character in the center of the main wall. The character is on the wall with the other popular Peanuts characters.
Immediately, I went over to the wall with my iPhone and googled Black Peanuts’ character. Right before my eyes in writing, there it was……Franklin!
I know the Peanuts main characters… Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Snoopy, Pig Pen and Peppermint Patty. This was my first time seeing Franklin. Franklin is the first black character in the comic strip. Franklin’s first appearance in the comic strip was in July of 1968.
In his first appearance, Franklin was building sandcastles on the beach with Charlie Brown. He was also Peppermint Patty’s classmate. Beaches and schools were separate for Blacks and Whites in the sixties.
The Civil Rights Movement was a social political movement. The movement stood for the rights of Black people. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the movement. The movement and his assassination in1968 challenged separate beaches, schools and other unfair policies.
Franklin’s appearance in the Peanuts comic strip was for woke America. The images of Franklin and Charlie Brown building sandcastles on the beach is a symbol… all men are created equal.
Today, we can all be modern day Franklins by staying woke!
- When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair….say something
- Never, ever, be afraid to say what is not right
- The goal of saying what is not right is to bring goodness and healing
