Usually on this day, I can look all over the web and someone, somewhere is reshaping Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. into a supporter of their cause. You name it. He’s for/against the Iraq War, he’s suddenly a vegan and a card-carrying member of PETA, he’d join the fight for gay marriage.

Frankly, I doubt the last one. As a man of the cloth, I’d imagine his view of homosexuality would be very much the same as any religious figure… I *DO* see the parallels, and this is a matter of Civil Rights and equality… and even in his own words “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” ring true in this case.

But so what? No matter what your perceptions of a man who is now larger than life, we can all agree on this about him:

He was a great man. His words were powerful and reached people on many levels. His conviction and righteous anger is what brought the many changes we see today, and that made him a THREAT.

Honestly, I look at today’s so-called “leaders” in the Black community with great disappointment. They want to be liked by everyone. They don’t want to hurt anyone’s precious feelings. They’d rather hold their flock back as helpless sheep than inspire them to reach inside and see their true potential. They’d rather whine, be victims and ask for help than say “BE A LEADER! TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR DESTINY!”.

I wont speak for anyone else, but Reverend King’s legacy and message to me was “BE A LEADER! Stand up for what you feel is right, no matter what the cost. I fought my battle, and won! Now you go out there and fight YOURS.”

I say let’s take that image we’ve molded of Dr. King (whether real or added on), those things we admired in this man… and make it a part of ourselves.

I can think of no better way to honor the man on his birthday.
No matter the cause, if you believe it’s right, then fight. Fight till your last breath. Don’t look to someone else to fight your battles FOR you.

You want to see a change… then just make it happen.
No excuses will be tolerated.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2006 at 8:04 pm and is filed under Tributes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.