NOGO Street Beat Blogger Editorial.

This Tuesday, January 15, 2013 marked what would have been the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's 84th birthday.   While he may be gone, Dr. King's legacy lives on in his words both written(Letters from Birmingham Jail) and spoken (the I Have a Dream Speech & the I've been to the Mountain Top speech).  He lives on as an example today because of his courageous nonviolent actions and his faith in American Democracy for all of it's peoples.


The 3rd Monday of January ( 1/21/2013) is designated as a federal holiday to honor this man's life and legacy.  It is this blogger's belief that without the sacrifice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. life as we know it in America would not exist.  He legacy lives on in ever one who lives,  breathes and recognizes freedom and equality for all men and women.

 Indeed, America has come a long way.  We still have a ways to go. 

Right now, unemployment in the black community is the highest of any race  in this country.  Crime and poverty are at an all time high.  Every time I turn on the news I hear of another murder.  Black on black crime is still in some areas at an all time high and a young black male is still considered very blessed to reach the age of 25.

Yes we still have many mountains to climb, and I mean that literally.  I won't speculate on how Martin Luther King would feel or what he would say if he were still alive.  We lost a great leader and motivator in Dr. King, but he earned his rest.

It is time for us as a people to accept the responsibility for our lives ourselves.  We not only can do better than this, we as African Americans are better than this.  But, we have to believe that we are and want it for ourselves.

 We have to become the leaders, the teachers, the motivators, the innovators, the Martin Luther King's that we are waiting for in our individual lives.  We have to start looking at life differently.
African Americans make up less that 50% of this countries populace.  How can we be responsible for most of the crime that happens on the nightly news? 

During the Civil Rights Era, it was us against injustice, and now sometimes it is like it is just us against ourselves.    Our thinking, and our living has got to change.  IT doesn't matter worth a damn who is President of the United States, if we still have the same problems we had ten years ago.  Having a black president was not the focus and point of the dream.  If it was then, we need to go back to sleep.

MLK's dream was simple:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

Let us all honor him in memory as well as in action.   Look first to God and then to ourselves for the solution.  PEACE.

Our Heritage, Our Rights, Our History, Our Nation: For better or worse

People used to and still laugh at me when I say that vote. But, even so, this a powerful legacy to be a part of and I will continue to do it. 

 

     On November 6, 2012, I will do what I have always had the privilege to do during my lifetime and take part in our country's electoral process.  It doesn't matter who I vote for; I am not endorsing any candidate on this blog.  However, I felt that i should do some self reflection on why I vote and why the act of voting is so important to me.

 

       My grandfather was an Arkansas sharecropper.  He served in the military during World War 1 as a mess cook.   My grandmother was a school teacher, but my grandfather didn't know how to read.  I do know that for a long time Americans of African descent, like my grandparents, never had the opportunity to cast a ballot in the box without it being detrimental to their own lives.  I know this. 

 

      I also know that my grandfather served his country anyway, and long after his death, my grandmother lived comfortably because of his years of service.  This land has been our land always for better or worse.

     

       Now, I am about to say some things here some may not agree with.  Write your own comments below.  The Civil Rights movement was not all about us being treated fairly or having the same rights.

 

      The movement, the struggle, was about leveling the uneven playing field, gaining a sense of self in a country we were told was never ours, being allowed to live with pride in our selves, our worth.    

       For that to happen, we had to move, we had to believe, and we had to shout with our actions as well as our voices to those who opposed our humanity with ignorance, who marred our beauty with images of buffoonery, who talked down to us and called us names like nigger--- We had to fight.

 

         People, many for no apparent reason whatsoever, died so that I could have the education, the privilege and the pride of calling myself an American citizen.  And today, people still die so that I can have the privilege to live and breathe free.

 

I do this in remembrance of them.  I vote in remembrance of those who tried to speak and were silenced.  Those who fought a good fight.  It is a right and a privilege that I know can be taken away from me at anytime. 

 

       

This land is still ours, for better or worse.  I believe that.  I have always voted because of this.  Not voting doesn't make you or me less than an American either.  Voting straight Republican doesn't mean you have less sense than someone who votes straight Democrat.  Do what you believe, you are free to do so.

 

Just remember someone fought for your privilege.  In your family, and outside of your family.