A fitting tribute

22nd August 2011   ·   0 Comments

By Edmund W. Lewis
Editor

More than four decades quick and loans locations after his assassination and nearly five decades after the historic March on Washington, the nation will pause to commemorate the legacy and contributions of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Sunday, August 28.

On that day, the nation and world will witness the unveiling of a massive granite sculpture on the storied National Washington Mall near the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. King is the first descendant of enslaved Africans to be honored with a colossal memorial on the Mall, which is timely given President Barack Obama’s historic 2008 election.

The space dedicated to the memory of Dr. King is intended as more than just an impressive monument to a tireless, charismatic civil rights leader. It is a gathering place designed for reflection and a recommitment to the ideals King espoused throughout his relatively short 39 years on the planet and a place where people of all ages, races, nationalities and backgrounds can come together in search of common ground in order to move humanity forward.

I often wonder what Dr. King would say and do if he witnessed today how many Black churches have strayed from the critical role they played in moving short term loan credit rating this nation and people of African descent forward in the years between the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the historic Civil Rights Movement. Some­times I wonder what he might think of today’s Black college students and their sometimes lukewarm approach to fighting for issues like justice, democracy and equal opportunity. I wonder what he would say to these two groups of Black people that played so critical a role in the successful passage of major civil rights legislation almost a half-century ago.

I also wonder what he would say to those Black elected officials today who don’t left a finger to come to the aid of those less fortunate and are too afraid or worried about losing their positions of prominence to speak out against racism, classism and injustice. I wonder what he would tell them about divine purpose and what it means to be a public servant.

I think if Dr. King were alive today, he would be proud to know that the people of Egypt, the ancient homeland of our Kemetic ancestors, were so inspired by the example of the historic Civil Rights Movement that they launched a 21st-century campaign for justice, democracy and decision-making power personal loans sarasota in that nation thousands of miles away. I dare to say that he would equally impressed that the people of Egypt used the technological advances of the 21st century to make it happen.

But I think he would have to ask why so many people in the United States have stopped fighting to bring about positive change and why some of those who fought and marched alongside him nearly 50 years ago have refused to step aside and welcome younger leaders with bold, new ideas and strategies to empower and uplift communities of color. The same energy, ingenuity, resourcefulness and enthusiasm that led to the election of the nation’s first Black president should be utilized daily to address issues like poverty, racism, hunger, unemployment, police brutality, Black-on-Black violence and inadequate health care, he would probably say.

Both he and Malcolm X would be wondering why we haven’t stepped up in international politics and prodded the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund to end the systematic exploitation and subjugation of underdeveloped and impoverished nations around the world that has been going on even before the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, which carved up Africa and divided it among European can i get a payday loan if i live in georgia Superpowers.

Many of us put on our finest clothing every January to celebrate the National Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, but spend very little time over the course of the year putting the principles King espoused into action.

We can talk about appreciating and respecting the contributions of Dr. King until we are blue in the face but none of that matters if we are not actively engaged in efforts to continue the work he dedicated his life to.

There is still a great deal of work that remains to be done. Far too many young people of all races are still dropping out of school and giving up on their dreams at an early age. Far too many schools, churches and communities are failing to give our children what they need to be all they can be. Despite catchy slogans and initiatives like No Child Left Behind, millions of children are still slipping through the cracks and sinking deeper into lives of destitution and despair. Many communities across the U.S. are still plagued by violence, poverty, hunger, hopelessness, substandard housing, inadequate health care and a host of other societal ills.

Far too many personal loans that are legit Americans are still having their constitutional rights trampled upon by elected officials, government agencies and the criminal justice system. As we know well in New Orleans, many folks still find themselves on the receiving end of law enforcement officers who abuse the power and authority they hold in the name of protecting the status quo.

There are still too many sentencing disparities in the criminal justice system and problems like drug- and gun-trafficking that make it impossible for many families to live the American Dream. There are still too many incidents involving the abuse of power by law enforcement officials and prosecutors who are more interested in boosting conviction rates and advancing their careers than they are in making sure that every citizen’s right to equal protection under the law is guaranteed,

I think Dr. King would be particularly saddened and disappointed by recent data released by American College Testing that shows that only four percent of Black students are college-ready in English, mathematics, reading and science. Long before the lure of professional sports, the invention of the Internet, cell phones and iPods, there was a time when education was viewed as the most important tool by which lenient lenders for personal loans an individual could achieve self-determination while lifting himself and loved ones out of lives of poverty and servitude. Even during the Jim Crow era, Black families understood, as Malcolm X reminded us, that education is “our passport to the future.”

Not enough people take the time today to involve themselves in the education of young people and make it clear to them that they expect them to excel in the classroom. Even fewer people appear to be willing to make sacrifices and invest in the education of the young people in their families and communities.

As a result, we get what we’ve been getting for the past few decades: An increasing number of young Black people who view education as useless and find themselves falling prey to the lure of gang life, dead-end, low-wage jobs, the drug trade and, ultimately the prison-industrial complex.

While the King Memorial bears the name of one of the nation’s greatest civil rights leaders, it is also a tribute to the many freedom fighters like Marcus Garvey, Queen Mother Moore, Ida B. Wells, Mary McLeod Bethune, Malcolm X, Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, Fannie Lou Hamer, Oretha Castle Haley, Carter G. quick loans no security Woodson, Hector Peterson, Steve Biko, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah. Asa Hilliard III, George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass, Charles Deslondes, Kwame Ture, Shirley Chisholm, Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, Sojourner Truth and Dr. Martin Delaney never stopped fighting and who will never be fully appreciated or heralded by this nation and the world for the contributions and sacrifices they made in moving this nation closer to becoming a more perfect union and laying everything on the line in the name of freedom, justice, equity and equal protection under the law.

As we pause to honor the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., let us be ever mindful of the fact that there is still a lot of work that remains undone and commit ourselves to doing something every day to make our cities, states, the nation and the world a better place to live.

We owe him and every other freedom fighter who fought, marched, struggled, bled and died for this nation and the world that much. Harambee.

This article was originally published in the August 22, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper