MLK Facebook Post Leads to Discovery of Lost Message; Must-See Music Video from East Lansing Artist [VIDEO]

My dad would say "There's no coincidence.  There's providence."  I generally subscribe to that theory and this particular incident is one of those, without a doubt.

It's important to note the significance of how this whole thing unfolded, because there are a number of times it could have gone a different way and would have completely changed the outcome.

In fact, I think they're so significant, I'm going to make them bold, so you can't miss them.

I was up much later than I should have been, and as midnight struck, an MLK-themed post popped up on Facebook.  The photo caught my eye.  It was of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and numerous others, marching in Selma.

Then, I noticed the text that accompanied the photo, which had been posted by Brenda Duong, an MSU student.

Today we commemorate Martin Luther King Jr., and today, I will be attending the MLK Commemorative march at the MSU Union (3pm), as I have each year of my undergrad. If you have a moment, please read this post.

Each year, I get stares from people, muttering, "Why is she here? She's Asian.." and I just want to say something in regards to that, something pretty cool that I noticed from Dr. Meaghan Kozar's APA Studies class.

Take a close look at this photo. Who do you see? This photo was taken during the 3rd Selma Civil Rights March. From the far left, we see: John Lewis, an unidentified nun, Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Bunche, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Federick Douglas Reese. A somewhat diverse crowd... But what makes it more diverse is who gave those marchers their lei's. Those lei's that they wear around their necks are from Rev. Abraham Kahikina Akaka- an Asian American.

Although we don't quite see Asian Americans in history too much, or in this case, more in the civil rights movement... I want to remind everyone that solidarity was there, and is still here. Minority ethnic groups are unified, and I think that only makes us stronger.

Thank you for reading.

I decided to share the photo.

But when I went to share it, I realized Brenda's security settings would prevent my friends from seeing the post.

In most cases, I would have just scrapped my plan to share the photo or I would have just stolen it and reposted it. But, I guess I couldn't very well tell Brenda's story, and I thought it was worthwhile enough that others would want to or should read it, so I decided to email her and ask her to change her settings on that post.

When I opened up Facebook messenger, to my surprise, Brenda had already emailed me. But upon further investigation, I realized, her email was sent in July of 2011 -- almost four years ago! Her email happened to be sent at the precise time I had just moved to North Carolina; a period of time where, I'm sure, a LOT of emails were lost.

Brenda's email was an introduction to a song that she had written and a music video she had just recorded. So, four years later, I decided to watch the video.

Brenda has the voice of angel. The song is well written. The music and video were both produced very well! How could I have missed this??!

So, after applauding her for her MLK post, I told her that I was going to play her song on the radio later.

She proceeded to tell me that she has not been very active with music lately, but she told me that the timing of her song being played on the radio is extra special because the guy that had produced this particular song, her close friend, Ram Choi, had been killed in a car accident last year.

I told her that if it was her dream, she needed to not let it escape; it's not that often that I tell someone "Hey, I'm going to play your song on the radio today." Brenda's got it. You'll see.

Watch the music video for her song, "This Photograph," below.