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Fifty Years Later

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I remember the day and I remember it well! I came home from school that Thursday afternoon to discover gospel music playing on the radio and my mother crying. I knew something was amiss because the local radio station that my mother listened to, would normally only play gospel music until noon. After the noon hour, the station would change to a rhythm and blues musical format. As for my mother crying, I had only seen her cry once before that time. It was one year earlier; February 14, 1967, the day the only grandfather I knew (her father) died. I asked my mother what was wrong, to which she replied: “King is dead!” At the time, I was a naïve seven-year-old with no clue as to what she was talking about and so I asked: “King who?” At that point, my mother sat me down and explained to me who Dr. King was and what was going on in America.

Fast-forward to fifty years later. My mother has been gone for 19 years and that naïve little seven-year-old is now a fifty-seven-year-old preacher and pastor. America, although much progress has been made, is still a nation wherein people are judged by the color of their skin more-so than the content of their character! It seems as if, for the most part, the only time some people talk about Dr. King, his dream and what happened is during Black History celebrations in February and on April 4; the anniversary of his assassination.

Tremendous progress has been made! We’ve even had a two-term Black President, but America is still a nation, wounded, handicapped, and scarred by racial prejudice and racial hatred. It’s 2018, and there are still people in this country today who still think “white is right” and “black and brown shouldn’t be around!” The nation has opted to elect a president who shows no apparent respect for the truth, the poor or the disenfranchised. Because of the climate this administration has allowed (encouraged?) closet racists have come out of their closets, boldly speaking with their lips dripping with the saliva of hatred and contempt for people who are not like them! Is this the America of Dr. King’s dream? In 1968, there was confrontation with the police and law enforcement in protest of the war in Vietnam. Today, there still seems to be a systemic problem and disparity between the treatment of Black and White suspects! Black suspects are more likely to be labelled as thugs, shot and killed ,while White suspects are more likely to be labelled as mentally ill, treated with respect and even given burger and fries before going to jail! Is this the America of Dr. King’s dream? Even in Black communities, it seems as if Black lives only really matter when they are taken by the police; otherwise, it seems to be acceptable for Blacks to kill one another over drug, family, or personal disputes! Is this the Black America of Dr. King’s dream? Even many in the church, who are supposed to be setting the moral climate of justice, righteousness and equality for the community have forsaken the path and succumbed to the lures of fame, prosperity, and money! Is this the church of Dr. King’s dream or even the church that Jesus established?

It is fifty years later! We’ve come a long way; but we have such a long way to go! Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a man in and for his own time. We must quit looking and waiting for ‘another King’ and be kings and queens in our own right in our own generation. We don’t have to go to Washington, we can be agents of change, sources of inspiration and hope, right where we are! It is past time for our actions to be limited to reminiscing about what others have done in the past. We can’t get full off of yesterday’s lunch; we must cook and eat for today! Deep down inside all of us is everything needed to make an impactful difference in the world today. It’s fifty years later; the question is not whether or not the dream is still alive because it has been alive for ages! It didn’t start with Dr. King because it was alive in the hearts of the ancient prophets who spoke of a God who desired justice to roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream!

It is fifty years later! Dr. King lived and was killed for what he believed in! What about you and I today? Are we willing to take the necessary risks to stand up for justice and righteousness or will we be content to settle for the comfort of our own private prosperity as long as we are not directly impacted by the injustices and ills that still plague our society? Will we be content to just ‘talk about it’ or will we rise up and ‘be about it?’ I’ve heard all my life an old axiom that says: ‘Prayer changes things!’ But, the older I get and the more I study ‘the Book,’ I am convinced that is not entirely accurate. Prayer is not designed to change things; prayer is designed to change people so that people might change things!

It is fifty years later: Thank you Dr. King for allowing prayer to change you so that you were inspired to be an agent of change in your generation! Hopefully, we will eventually understand that you didn’t live and die for us to just remember and talk about you, but rather so that things would be easier for us to make changes in our own generation.

There Is A “King” In All of Us!

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Every year, during the month of February, we pause to celebrate Black History Month. It is a time in which we focus on the accomplishments and achievements of noted Black historical individuals and Black people in general who sacrificed much for the advancement of African-Americans and people in general. One such individual who paid the ultimate sacrifice at the hand of an assassin’s bullet was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Therefore, no Black History program is complete without a rendition of Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech and the giving of the “Martin Luther King, Jr., Life-time Achievement Award” to some worthy contemporary person who has dedicated their life to Civil Rights and seeking justice and equality for all people.

Now before I go any further, I am not against celebrating Black History Month! I am not advocating that we quit remembering Dr. King and other historical figures who sacrificed so much for the advancement of civil rights in this country and the world. That’s not my point at all! What I am suggesting is that we stop being so infatuated with their accomplishments that we forget that each one of us has also been called to do something significant in our own generation! They did what they were called to do then, we must do what we are called to do now!

We live in a different world than that of Dr. King and the Civil Rights era, therefore, it seems highly unlikely that there will be or even can be “one” individual who can be “the leader” of a movement. This is unsettling to some people because they are looking and waiting for a savior or a superman to save them and the race: They are looking for another Malcolm X or Dr. King! But actually, we don’t need another Dr. King because there is already a “king” in all of us! 

In Genesis 1:26-28, we read: “And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’ So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (KJV) We were created to have and exercise dominion; that’s kingdom authority, over the earth! There is a “king” in all of us! We keep waiting and looking for help to come from an outside source, when God has already placed all the help we will ever need within each of us! But we will never exercise our dominion until we seize control. And how do we seize control? One of the ways we can seize control by letting go of the “victim mentality” and by accepting and taking responsibility for our own lives!

Now this is not to accept, excuse, or even deny the existence of overt oppressive racism in America by blaming the victim! No! Racism in America is still very much alive and well today! If you don’t think so, just read the media reports of some of the emboldened racist actions within the last couple of years! To those sympathetic White people who insist they shouldn’t be blamed for the past and that racism is history and that Black people should just “get over it,” You are right! You should not be blamed for the sins of your fore-fathers. But it’s really hard for Black people to “get over it” when some of your “cousins” are keeping the sins of your fore-fathers alive this very hour by displaying nooses, spray-painting the “n-word” on LeBron James’ gate and practicing racially bias policing and unjust sentencing toward Black defendants in the justice system and in the courts every day! You are mistaken, racism is not history; it’s current events! Even today, for some White people, it doesn’t matter how much money a Black person may have or how educated, famous, or cultured they may be, at the end of the day; they are still Black! Still Black? Yes! Still Black, as if that’s a sin or a mark of inferiority! As if that’s something that a Black person could or would want to change, even if such a change was possible! 

But I’m digressing now, so let me get back to my point: There is a “king” in all of us! We cited Genesis1:26-28, where God gave man dominion over all the earth and over all the creatures of the earth. But if you look at the text closely, you might note that God never gave man dominion over other men! (That’s why racist theologians and others tried to suggest Black people were not human!) There is a “king” in each and all of us, but the kingship is not to be exercised over other “kings” but rather over one’s environment and circumstances of life.

The racial problem in America would come a long way toward being solved if the White “kings” would understand and accept the fact that the color of their skin does not make them any better than others! Skin color doesn’t make us any better or worse; it just makes us different! The racial problem would also come a long way toward being solved if those White kings who accepted and understood this would be determined to educate rather than just passively tolerate those who didn’t! This is especially true of White Americans who profess to be Christians! Racism would dissipate to a much greater degree if those “White Christians” were truer to their biblical calling than to the standards and cultures of some of their social and country clubs!

And in the meantime, the Black “kings” must realize and adopt the mantra: “If it is to be; it is up to me!” Quit looking for another “Dr. King, Malcolm X, or even the government for salvation! The best way to resist the victimizer is to refuse to play the role of the victim! It’s simply not fair, nor is it an accurate assessment of the truth to blame the “White folks” for all of our problems! Sure, racism does play a significant role in some of our ills, but there are some ills that are maladies of our own making! No! The best way to collectively lift the race is to not expect “one” man or woman to do it, nor to spend an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to fix the blame on other folks. No! The best way to elevate a race is for each individual to do his or her part in accepting their responsibility to elevate their own social and spiritual consciousness. The best thing you can do for me is to be the best “you” that you can be! The best thing I can do for you is to be the best “me” that I can be! All the while, realizing that my being my best me doesn’t make me better than you; it just makes me a better me than the me I used to be! And our being the best “us” involves being all that God created us to be!

At the end of the day, Dr. King was right! “We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools!” And for those who believe in an after-life in Heaven or Hell: What kind of Heaven is reasonable if we mistreat our brothers and sisters down here and then expect to live in harmony with them in Heaven? And talk about Hell! It sure enough will be Hell, to hate and mistreat someone on earth and then have to spend an eternity with them in Hell!