“Dr. King Would Not Have Been There…..

From the Other Side of the Edge….
Dr. King Would Not Have Been There…..
By Joe Facinoli

Martin Luther King, Jr. was not about celebrity, nor any agenda.

And he was certainly not about politics.

He was about truth, and reality, and presenting these in a way that was undeniable.

He was not about what went on in DC last week, 50 years after his “I have a Dream, today….” exhortations.

In fact, in my humble opinion, I don’t believe he would have wanted anything to do with that group, who had gathered at the Lincoln Memorial supposedly to honor him, and most probably, he would not have even been there.

A photo-op. Activism by sound bite. Lookin’ all pretty and slick, and concerned, while saying canned words and catch phrases, and speaking them from inside five thousand dollar suits, and ten thousand dollar gowns.

Dr. King’s goals were simple, but huge. They were clear, pure, and direct, but more complicated than any ever attempted in our nation’s history.

But all he wanted, merely, was inclusion. And to accomplish that, all he had to do was change 400 years of social and cultural history on this continent.

He wanted this for “his” people, but for all as well, and for all included “to be judged by the content of their character”, and not by their political affiliations, their value to an agenda, nor their potential profitability to “the cause”.

Muchless, ….by the color of their skin.

Simple goals. Honest, righteous, basic.

Does that sound like any of our national cultural or political leaders of today??

Black or white,….but especially black?

The same leaders who make no apologies for, and go to great and divisive lengths to justify, defend, and perpetuate the social irresponsibilities of today’s minorities?

Not even in the same ballpark, zip code, nor county.

Dr. King never wanted to be seen, nor especially thought of, as a “victim”. But simply as a person, a man, a human being, with the same rights, wishes, and yes, even dreams,…..as any other.

He didn’t change course as the political winds might blow differently, at a given moment. Always straight ahead, straight on, and right at you.

He didn’t need hyperbole, nor overstatement, and never embellished nor re-directed any of what he brought to the light of day. And he felt no need to soften his directness, and forthrightness, for any reason.

He lived “The Cause”, and all the injustices he fought against, and suffered mightily by them. Eventually paying the ultimate price for his beliefs, and hopes and dreams, if not solely for the articulate skills he embodied, within the wrong colored skin.

While he labored at length over the right words to use, and the correct message his famous speech should convey, he actually ad-libbed the “I have a dream today…” part of his speech, quickly calling upon previous thoughts and deliveries, because he felt the need to go there, off the cuff, at that pivotal moment in history, in front of that massive crowd,….and the world.

Contrast that to our current “tele-prompter” President, and the over-prepared, over-rehearsed garbage and nonsense from most of our present leaders, especially the ones championing “the cause”, that passes for rhetoric and public speech, and “inspiration”, in this era.

But Dr. King felt it, said it, and delivered it, in the most incredible way, from his heart and soul, directly to the needy world he confronted, and beseeched, without having to talk over any changes with advisers, or think tanks.

(We won’t even mention “hearts and souls”, when discussing today’s leaders.)

He wasn’t bitter, nor envious or resentful. And he didn’t hate.

He said all of this in his brilliant and insightful words that day. And he even laid out an exact blueprint for non-violence, by urging “dignity and discipline”, instead of “hatred and distrust”.

He even preached for his brothers and sisters of color to not only reach out to white people, but to understand and know that the freedoms of each group, were forever and “inextricably bound” to the “destiny” of both.

Let’s see,….how does that stack up to the “creds” of those brothers and sisters of all colors, today, who just can’t wait to tell us exactly how much they are “down with the cause” ??

Again, a completely different postal delivery area. One that even UPS and Fedex wouldn’t be able to find.

He not only advised against violence, for the furtherance of their movement, but insisted on the “force of the soul”, against the physical.

He preached, that day, to always move forward. And to “march ahead”. And to never look, nor “turn” back.

Unlike the race mongers, and baiters, and profiteers of today, whose only preaching is for the purpose of keeping “their people” in the same miserable place they were 50 years ago. To insure that the “race business”, and the political advantage of that cultural obscenity, continues to flourish, and to turn a profit.

Ask Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton to share their tax returns with the public, and we’ll see just how “down with the cause” they truly are.

Even at the end, Dr. King lived a simple life. The Lorraine Motel, where he spent the last night of his life, is in a dump of an area in Memphis. It makes a Motel 6 look like a 5-Star. I’ve been there, and even today, as a museum, it’s still in a place where you don’t want to be walking the streets alone.

But that was him. He was real, and he meant and lived what he said.

Ask the good Reverends Jackson and Sharpton about their accommodations, when they travel “for the Cause”. But don’t bother to ask them for the name of their tailor, they probably wouldn’t share it.

Dr. King urged all who listened, to “not wallow in the valley of despair”, and to go back from whence they came, and to continue the good (and non-violent) fight, no matter the price, and to move ever forward to the cherished goals of equality and freedom.

He didn’t whine about his people not having, nor wanting to use, a photo I.D., with which to insure the legitimacy of their vote (fully 25% of all blacks of voting age still don’t have one, in 2013!), he just wanted all blacks to be ABLE to vote, legally and rightfully, under whatever conditions necessary to make that happen.

And he didn’t preach for more welfare and handouts, nor for government gifted healthcare. He just wanted his people to have the same opportunities as white folks, to drink from the “vast ocean of material prosperity”, that America has to offer all of its citizens.

But he did demand that we live up to the most sacred of all the words given to us by our Founding Fathers, “…..that all men are created equal.”

(Of course that means women too, even as we have grown as a society.)

And likewise, that “the content of (one’s) character”, would correctly mean so much more than the insignificant “color of (one’s) skin”.

Where is any of that conversation, or even rhetoric, today?? Amid all the drum beating, and the vicious accusatory tones regarding so many factless allegations of white on black racism??

While black on white racism, from the White House, and the Attorney General’s office on down, is not only allowed, but encouraged, and even applauded. And certainly excused, if not covered up, and frequently.

Dr. King would want none of that. He just wanted an equal chance, not a full-on reversal of cultures.

He asked of his brothers and sisters in 1963, only that they “work together, pray together, struggle together,”….and to “stand up for freedom together.”

And not sit idly on the couch, wallowing in self-pity, as perpetual victims who are content and satisfied with whatever the government, and the politicians (who always promise a rain forest, but usually deliver the desert), see fit to give them.

Dr. King would have been appalled, that so many people of color today are still not engaged in the American way of Life. But even more so, because it is of their own choosing, and lack of any effort to change their condition.

There has never been such a speech ever given in this country, ….not before, nor since. One with such purpose, so specific in nature, and yet so inspiring.

One that lashed out at all the injustices it clearly identified, while at the same time reaching out a hand of conciliation, and directing a common sense and moral path towards a solution to the social and cultural issues it so magnificently and eloquently addressed.

And there has never been one that evoked more pure and honest emotion.

The Gettysburg Address, or JFK’s inauguration speech,….maybe. And there were others.

But none like this one. And no other like this man….Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I think, were he alive today, and if he saw the group assembled in DC, for the 50 year celebration of his unique and so very important moment in history,…..he would feel just as content to be sitting at the counter, in a corner drug store in Montgomery, or Selma, or Memphis,…..sipping on an honest, free man’s cup of coffee, …..in peace.

Bless him.

And may we all “overcome”, what has become of his movement.

Joe Facinoli

-Joe can be reached at: joefacinoli@gmail.com

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