As a youth (right out of college) I would always take MLK Day off. It was stupid and misguided but at the time, I was “celebrating” the black holiday. I like to think that I am a pushback kind of guy. That pushing back was silly. I am almost embarrassed to write that when I have done nothing compared to what my parents fought for and through. Even more, what the icons of the Civil Rights movement Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Medgar Evers and others accomplished to assuage inequities. Evers died in 1963, Malcolm X died in 1965, King died in 1968 but more than 40 years later, those are the men we still talk about.
I am not a fan of this time of year. Martin Luther King Jr. has a holiday named after him and rightfully so. It is a moment of reflection for folks that do not know or do not remember to talk about him, his legacy and strong moves he and others made to push back against inequities.
The day does signify for me, in part, the beginning of a five to six week period that truthfully is very hard for me to manage. It has turned into a time of black folks giving their resume of what members of the black community have accomplished over time. Is it my pride about thinking that black folks are beyond spouting off their resume every February? Maybe! Is it my discouragement about the current plight of the black community that in my mind is marginally better off than the 60’s? Probably! It is my confidence that makes me think, “I don’t need to impress white folks.” Yes!
As amazing as these numbers may seem, we live in an America where the number of black men in jail is too close to the number of black men in college, 50% of the black males in the country did not graduate high school, 75% of black children don’t have a father in the home. I realize that I break “black rules” by talking black issues in the company of “white folks” but at this point, I’d just assume tell the truth. Looking back 40 + years ago and claiming success and victory will not change these numbers. We will!
I have a hard time thinking that Martin, Malcolm and Medgar wouldn’t sound like Monday night football and exclaim, “Com’n man!”
I understand and agree with the notion that if you don’t learn from your past then you are destined to repeat it. But the black community is in a crisis state and is probably worse off than in the past. Sure you can find individuals, certain pockets and segments of the black community that are doing better but as a whole, the plight of the black community is not good.
Smokey Robinson said one time, “Instead of being proud of who we were, let’s be proud of who we are.” Who we are is a struggle right now. With all due respect to Talib Kweli who is right when he says, “Life is a beautiful struggle”, we make our struggle harder than it should be.
We have to recognize the past. We have to celebrate our successes and our victories. I’m proud of my heritage and honored to be the child of activist that pushed back against the ills of society in regards to race. I’m proud to be the grandson of a sharecropper with a 3rd grade education. I’m proud to be the son of a career bus driver and educator who made sure my brother, sister and I had opportunities to do whatever we wanted. On the whole none of it matters.
If we do not appreciate the past and get better as a group, America doesn’t get better as a whole and blacks don’t get better as a community.
To Martin, Malcolm, Medgar and the great historical folks that helped create the opportunities that I capitalize on today, THANK YOU!
To everyone here right now, we have a ton of work to do!
Stop celebrating and start working! It’s MLK Day and I’m going to do what I do every year, honor Martin Luther King by a full day of hard work trying to make my world and the world a better place.
Thanks Dr. King!
