They Killed the Dreamer, But His Dream Lives On!

Today marks the 44th anniversary of the assassination of our dear brother, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The assassins may have killed Dr. King, but they did not kill his ideas. His legacy lives on!

Despite all of the progress that we have made as a society, his call for action remains relevant today. Please take a moment to reflect these excerpts from Dr. King's Letter From the Birmingham Jail.

"You may well ask, "Why direct action, why sit-ins, marches, and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. I just referred to the creation of tension as a part of the work of the nonviolent resister. This may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must see the need of having nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men to rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. So, the purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. We therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in the tragic attempt to live in monologue rather than dialogue....

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have never yet engaged in a direct-action movement that was "well timed" according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "wait." It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This "wait" has almost always meant "never." It has been a tranquilizing thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment, only to give birth to an ill-formed infant of frustration. We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that "justice too long delayed is justice denied." We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our God-given and constitutional rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. I guess 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, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; 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 cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos, "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-country 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" and your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and when 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 knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodyness" -- then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runsover and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience....

I MUST make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods
of direct action"; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."

Why Don't We Honor Brother Malcolm X Like We Honor Rev. Dr. King?

On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated. Our dear brother, like many before him, sacrificed his precious life so that we could be free. Without an alternative prospective such as his, the civil rights gains of the sixties would not have been possible. His ideas gave birth to the Black Power Movement, the Black Panther movement, the cultural nationalism movement and the Black Arts Movement.

Why don't we honor him as we honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King? Why don't we celebrate Malcolm X Day? Where are our Malcolm X monuments? More importantly, why aren't we continuing his bold, uncompromising legacy?

A Tribute to A King and A Movement!

Let's honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the movement by getting involved in the today's struggle for social justice!

President Obama's Remarks at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Dedication

As stated on the White House Blog, yesterday,

"President Obama, joined by the First Family, toured the memorial and then spoke at the dedication ceremony in honor of Dr. King's work to make his dream a reality for all. During his speech, President Obama reminded us that the progress towards Dr. King's vision has not come easily and there is still more to do to expand opportunity and make our nation more just."

Black History Month Video Tribute to Our Martyrs

For Black History Month, I honor the known and unknown courageous brothers and sisters who gave their precious lives so that we can be free. 

Let us remember Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Fred Hampton, Mark Clark, Medger Evers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and the many other martyrs. May God bless and keep them all.

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.



Malcolm X



Medger Evers, NAACP leader



Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, Black Panther Party leaders



James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, civil rights workers

Honor MLK By Joining Today's Struggle for Equality and Peace

By celebrating the life of our dear, beloved brother, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we celebrate the struggle of the people. Instead of simply taking a day off from work, we should embrace and join the struggle. As the great revolutionary Pan Africanist Kwame Ture told us, we must be organized.

In order to be organized, we must join civil rights and anti-war organizations. Join the NAACP, National Action Network, Color of Change, National Urban League or any other progressive organization fighting for equality. Don't talk about. Be about it.

War is Peace

Yesterday, President Barack Obama humbly accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. During his acceptance speech, Obama said that his accomplishments are slight compared to other Nobel Prize winners such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and former South African President Nelson Mandela. I am proud that the first African American U.S. President received this distinguished award. Barack Obama is the embodiment of African Americans' hopes and dreams. He is a great symbol of American progress.

However, with all due respect, I agree with President Obama. His accomplishments are slight compared to great peacemakers like Dr. King and President Mandela. President Obama has been in office for less than one year. He was in office for a couple of months when he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Aside from giving beautiful speeches about mutual respect and international cooperation, he has done little for the cause of peace.

The timing of this award is ironic and controversial. The United States is waging two wars. Last week, after long deliberations, President Obama announced his decision to send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan. According to the President, this escalation will cost American taxpayers at least $30 billion this year. During his eloquent and thought provoking acceptance speech, Obama justified his decision to escalate the conflict. He stated that:

We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations - acting individually or in concert - will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified…I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiation cannot convince al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms…Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this: the United States of American has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of arms…The instruments of war have a role to play in preserving the peace.

That last sentence reminds me of the slogan "War is Peace" in George Orwell’s novel 1984. Clearly, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee's award to Obama is peculiar.

I am no pacifist. In principle, I agree with the President’s general point. Some wars are necessary and just such as the Civil War and World War II. Although I support the President's goal of eradicating Al Qaeda, I do not support his decision to send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan for the following reasons. First, other great powers such as Russia and Britain have failed in Afghanistan. The U.S. should reflect and learn from those examples. More troops equals more unnecessary American casualties.

Second, the Karzai government is a corrupt, inept regime of warlords and drug dealers. It is unlikely to ever become a reliable partner with the U.S. Without a strong central Afghan government, success is impossible.

Third, instead of squandering billions of dollars waging war and attempting to repair a failed state, that money should be used to address the problems plaguing American cities. My hometown, Detroit, has been devastated by sub prime mortgages, skyrocketing unemployment and failing schools. Many other inner cities face similar problems. This Nation always has enough money for war. But for health care and other social programs, we are told that those programs must be deficit neutral.

Fourth, Afghanistan is only one of Al Qaeda's safe havens. For instance, many of Al Qaeda operatives are in Pakistan. Many Al Qaeda leaders were killed or captured in Pakistan. Most of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia.

Fifth, the U.S. does not have a clear exit strategy. The U.S. has been in Afghanistan for over eight years. Despite Obama's assurances that the U.S. will begin to transfer forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have suggested that troops may remain in Afghanistan for years after that soft deadline.

And finally, American military intervention and occupation has not and will not ultimately defeat terrorism and fanaticism. Such policies fuel terrorism and perpetuate the endless cycle of violence and retaliation.