Acknowledging the real MLK Jr.

By A. Peter Bailey
TriceEdneyWire.com Columnist

Another celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday has come and gone. And those who claim to be committed supporters of Dr. King and his legacy, as usual, remained mute as that courageous warrior for equal rights, equal opportunity and equal justice for Black folks, was reduced to “I Have a Dream.”

I ask those who loudly and persistently proclaim their devotion to him, are you aware of the Dr. King who wrote this?

“The brunt of the Negro’s past battles was borne by a very small striking force. Though millions of Negroes were ardent and passionate supporters, only a modest number were actively engaged, and these were relatively too few for a broad war against racism, poverty and discrimination. Negroes fought and won, but our engagements were skirmishes, not climactic battles. …

No great victories are won in a war for the transformation of a whole people without total participation. Less than this will not create a new society; it will only evoke more sophisticated token amelioration. The Negro has been wrong to toy with the optimistic thought that the breakdown of white resistance could be accomplished at a small cost. He will have to do more before his pressure crystallizes new white principles and new responses. The two forces must continue to collide as Negro aspirations burst against the ancient fortresses of the status quo.”

Are you aware of the Dr. King who wrote this?

“We must utilize the community action groups and training centers now proliferating in some slum areas to create not merely an electorate, but a conscious, alert and informed people who know their direction and whose collective wisdom and vitality commands respect. The slave heritage can be cast into the dim past by our consciousness of our strengths and a resolute determination to use them in our daily experiences. Power is not the white man’s birthright; it will not be legislated for us and delivered in neat government packages. It is a social force any group can utilize by accumulating its elements in a planned, deliberate campaign to organize it under its own control. We need organizations that are permeated with mutual trust, incorruptibility and militancy. Without this spirit we may have numbers but they will add up to zero. We need organizations that are responsible, efficient and alert. We lack experience because ours is a history of disorganization. But we will prevail because our need for progress is stronger than the ignorance forced upon us. If we realize how indispensable is responsible militant organization to our struggle, we will create it as we managed to create underground railroads, protest groups, self-help societies and the churches that have always been our refuge, our source of hope and our source of action.”

Are you aware of the Dr. King who wrote this?

“Second, Black Power, in its broad and positive meaning, is a call to black people to amass the political and economic strength to achieve their legitimate goals. No one can deny that the Negro is in dire need of this kind of legitimate power. Indeed, one of the great problems that the Negro confronts is his lack of power. … Power, properly understood, is the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political or economic changes. In this sense power is not only desirable but necessary in order to implement the demands of love and justice. One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and power are usually contrasted as polar opposites. … What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic.”

All of the above are in his last book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community? It’s time for that Dr. King to be acknowledged and listened to.

This article originally published in the January 26, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.