April 4, 2009...

"Early morning, April 4/A shot rings out in the Memphis sky/"Free at last!"/They took your life/But they could not take your pride/In the name of love/One more in the name of love"...from Pride (In the Name of Love) by U2.

I can hardly believe that it has been 41 years since Martin King was murdered. I don't have as clear memory of that evening as I would like--I was only six years old-- but I remember Washington, DC, burning in the days following. The "H" Street, NE, corridor still hasn't completely recovered from the carnage. But I digress...

I wonder if, rather, how many people REMEMBER how important this day is and forever will be? Radical that I am, I used to always ask Black folks on April 4th if they knew what the day was. Too often, I was disappointed. I am not about to pretend I understood their forgetfulness/ignorance. I was disturbed because Martin King was/is a truly transformative figure. He was an icon. He was a legend in his own time.

I wondered if they realized that Martin King was really about justice for everyone. I wondered if they ever considered his stances on poverty or the Vietnam War. I wanted them to know the scholar/preacher/crusader who sacrificed his life even in life for them.

Did they know how the FBI followed and harassed him? Did they know of his sense of humor? Were they the least bit concerned with the inner struggles of the man, the husband, the father, the preacher?

In 2009, we have an opportunity to rejoice in knowing that the dream of the dreamer has been realized in ways we may have never thought imaginable. I NEVER thought that this nation would elect a son of Africa as President, let alone one my age. However, in our giddiness over Barack Hussein Obama's victory, we can not forget that too many of us live in stultifying poverty. We can not forget that too many of our children aren't being educated. Our appetite for drugs and alcohol is seemingly insatiable. We act as if Black-on-Black crime is the jue de jour. As a result, we kill too many of our mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers. We have even picked up the nasty habit of suicide. So while we have certainly achieved a lot, we may have even further to go than when Martin King was alive.

OK, Dude, what is your point? I am glad you asked. I want you to remember this day and the man who sacrificed and was sacrificed for us and our future. If I sound as if I am conflating Martin King and Yeshua (Jesus Christ), I am, in a way. If your desire is to serve Jah and your fellow man, there is no greater example. I recognize that Martin King was a man and therefore imperfect by nature, but there is still much to be gleaned from his example. He served, not for his benefit, but for the benefit of others. Yeshua served, not for His own salvation, but to secure the salvation of others. Likewise, we must serve, not for our own amelioration, but for the advancement of others.

In the final analysis, our lives are not really our own. We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue* have a responsibility to live our lives as if someone else depends on us. Easy? Of course not, but that is the point. The more we stretch ourselves the more Jah can fill us. I am grateful that I lived during Martin King's lifetime. His life is a great testament of what one person, determined, can do. He lived and died as if he believed the Gospel that he preached. We can't be him, of course, but Yeshua would be pleased if we learned from the sterling example set by Martin King. I am going to do MY best. Won't you join me?


Love and Peace...

* Hat tip to the late, great Curtis Mayfield

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