Why We Should Be Like MLK, Jr.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Yes. I’m writing a post about MLK.[1] It may seem cliche but I’m not just writing this because it’s his day. There are actually several reasons why I wanted to write this. First, because of my second favorite character on The Boondocks, Riley Freeman.

Like Riley, many people today seem to have forgotten about the impact Martin Luther King, Jr. had. It isn’t their fault, though. I blame the schools. Partly. Kind of.  Every MLK day and Black History Month what are we taught? Slavery was a bad time for everyone and then born unto us in Bethlehem was a child by the name of Martin Luther King, Jr. who saved all black people from eternal bondage and then Barack Obama was elected President and racism ended. So I wrote this for my Rileys out there.

Another reason I wanted to write this is because I didn’t want to write about the “I Have A Dream” speech. Why? Because it’s played out. Yep. Played out. I said that.  Then I immediately retracted that statement and said, “Self, shame on you.” It is indeed a shame that something so monumental and powerful is now deemed played out or routine. Everyone knows he had a dream. Something about the content of characters. Let’s try not to forget not only how far we’ve come but the other things MLK did.

The third reason I wanted to write this was for a reason to finally talk about my favorite piece of protest literature. Letter From Birmingham Jail.[2] If you haven’t read it, I strongly, strongly, strongly recommend that you do. It is incredibly inspiring! Essentially what it is is Martin Luther King, Jr. was in prison because of a sit-in and had heard people talking smack speaking out in opposition of his methods. Clergymen were saying that King shouldn’t causing a ruckus about all the injustice in the streets and should let the courts handle it. His response? Amazing.

This is how his letter begins. Keep in mind he has been imprisoned for a peaceful protest and then hears that people are talking bad about him for being down for the cause. How would you respond? What sort of state of mind would you be in?

“Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas.  If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work.  But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.”

Boom! Basically he said, “Usually I don’t do this but uh because I have much more important things to do.” And don’t think that mention of his secretaries was accidental. King, Jr. was saying, “Yo. I do have other things to do, you know. My secretaries usually handle these matters. But for you kind gentlemen who clearly don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m about to break this down.”

“I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Who talks like that anymore? In light of what is happening in Haiti we are blessed to have leaders stand up and say things like, “whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” So for those who think King’s “dream” has died, try not to overlook the small victories like our country, who was indirectly affected by the Haiti Earthquake, coming together to help Haiti who was directly affected. Many have made statements like, “If MLK were alive today he would…” Well this is one of the very few things I can say without a doubt. If he were alive today he would definitely care about the people of Haiti.

“Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation.”

In other words, “We tried the cordial legal way. Now we have to do it our way… which by the way is still cordial.”

“Some have asked: “Why didn’t you give the new city administration time to act?” The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham.”

Another reason why King was a great man, he didn’t rely on the bringing in of a new Mayor to change things. He still kept the course. Obviously I’m talking about how people immediately thought President Obama meant a new day and age. King wouldn’t have stood idly by and relied on one man to change an entire nation.

“For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”"

When speaking about waiting until the new administration was in place, King maintained that waiting is like running out the clock, “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” This excerpt coming up? This excerpt right here? This is why I absolutely love Dr. King and his Letter From Birmingham Jail. It’s kind of long but please do read all of it. It is so impassioned.

“Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness”–then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.”

What more can I say? If that isn’t the most brilliantly crafted letter that ever entered the prison mail system I just don’t know. He covered everything. From how segregation can hurt just as much as lynch mobs to the hatefulness of policemen that we are supposed to be able to trust with instilling justice in our communities. From how unfair it is to live in an affluent society and rich country but see our brothers and sisters failing at alarming rates. From fighting to ensure that his daughter doesn’t develop a sense of inferiority because of segregation to having to justify the hatefulness of others. From the degrading signs and names to standing up for a cause and still being shot down by people you thought supported you. These are issues we still deal with today but King was so impassioned that he stood up and made a difference.  Who today can say the same? We vote. We blog. We make music. We educate ourselves. But what more can we do to be like Dr. King? He did sit-ins and marches. Some might say that that was the old way and made sense for the time. Due to segregation they won’t serve you? Sit in. Well there are many things we can still do today. Speaking out is huge. How can people know there is a problem if we do not tell them?

“Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God.”

Another reason why we should be more like Dr. King is because yes he was a Reverend so this is expected of him, but because he wasn’t afraid to mix his politics and his religion. It’s so taboo these days to even mention that your political stance on a subject was influenced by your relationship with God but King wasn’t afraid to say that.

The second to last reason that we should be more like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is because he did not blame white people for the problems that Black people faced.

“I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too few in quantity, but they are big in quality.”

He expressed his disappointment at how little some were willing to help and then he kept it moving. He said he understood and thanked those who were willing to aid the cause. Then he turned to his own people.

“But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church… Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world?… I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self respect and a sense of “somebodiness” that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses.”

In other words, yes I didn’t get the white support that I hoped for but I did expect that the church would have my back because regardless of skin color we all claim to serve the same God. Secondly, there are two types of unfortunate Negroes. First, the type who has become used to segregation and isn’t moved to change it. And second, the type who in spite of the circumstances has succeeded in life and therefore thinks everyone else should do the same without their help. These type of people still exist. We should constantly and consciously strive to not be like that.

The very last reason why we should be more like Dr. King is because we don’t need to be a great Reverend, have “Dr.” in front of our name or be a civil rights activist in order to make a difference. One of the last things he wrote in this letter was,

“One day the South will recognize its real heroes… They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women… They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience’ sake.”

In other words, the people who are going to change this world are you and me. Try not to be like Riley.

P.S. go to Google.com and look at their logo. It’s pretty cool.

[1] Yeah, I call him MLK. He calls me Hux. It’s all good.

[2] Letter From Birmingham Jail text