It’s amazing that darn near 52 years after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we’re still dealing with a lot of the same hate that eventually killed him. It just looks differently in 2020.
The same hate that sent him to jail more than 30 times during a 10 year period still exists and the same hate that murdered him on a hotel balcony in Memphis hasn’t really gone away.
However, we’re thankful to celebrate a civil rights icon today for leading us to a different space in America. We can now choose the neighborhoods and schools that we want to live in and attend. We can now work in many places that we weren’t allowed and hold positions that our parents and grandparents weren’t even allowed to apply for. More blacks have been able to attend and graduate from colleges and universities all across this country.
There are laws that at least exist now that make it more difficult to discriminate against folks of color and those that aren’t of the mainstream. So for that we say thank you today for this great visionary.
Dr. King’s leadership during the Civil Rights Movement gave us hope and empowered us to move forward even in his absence. Peaceful protest was born out of him learning from guys like Gandhi and it’s been passed on to sports figures using their platforms to try to bring attention to the injustice that unfortunately still exists in America today.
Muhammad Ali refused to go fight in the Vietnam War and fellow athletes like Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and others stood beside him. Colin Kaepernick kneeled in protest of police brutality, racial and social injustice that is still thriving in this country.
Ali was stripped of his title and his license to box was revoked for several years. Kaepernick has been blackballed from the National Football League for simply wanting people of color to be treated fairly. Those are acts of intolerance.
What most people forget today is that at the time of King’s death on April 4, 1968 he was the most hated man in America. He wasn’t this adored figured that he is today. Everybody’s quoting him and loving on his memory but many of those same folks would have been hating him at the time.
I can remember when the Kaepernick situation popped off and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney literally said that Martin Luther King Jr. was on of the greatest Americans to ever live. Then in the next breath said that if people don’t like it here in America, referencing the Kaepernick protest of kneeling during the National Anthem, that they could leave this country. Don’t believe me look it up.
Dr. King was known as a radical, an antagonist that was the enemy of America. Why? Because he wanted ALL people to be treated fairly.
It’s mind blowing that 52 years later folks are still calling those that want the same thing for Ameirca racists, radicals and trouble makers. When pro athletes warm up in “I can’t Breathe” t-shirts to bring attention to police brutality many fans will say that there is no room for that in the game. When players speak out against injustice folks tell them that they’re too rich to care so shut up and play.
It’s amazing that 52 years after King’s death people are still being told , “If you don’t like it here leave.”
However, my faith in God moving us ALL forward will never die. Dr. King was our Moses that helped move us forward and now we’ve got to keep working to make this a better place for EVERYONE. Thanks Dr. King for listening to God as he guided us through the Civil Rights Movement. Despite the continued ignorance, hate and resistance that still exists. You being an antagonist during a time that we needed you to be one has changed America for the better. Thank you my brother.
