MLK’s Sanitized, Repackaged Legacy

In January, we celebrated the birthday of a famous minister. Incidentally, I was recently checking out a new Facebook friend’s “About” page and wound up re-posting one of the quotes there to help keep the machine running for Mr. Zuckerberg: “The salvation of our world lies in the hands of the maladjusted.”

I tend to say at times that I live in a bubble, because I avoid mainstream media and I’m typically too busy to even notice things like impending winter storms and holidays. The quote I borrowed belongs to Martin Luther King, Jr. I happened to post it on the morning of January 15 without having the slightest idea that this was Mr. King’s birthday. What are the odds?

A week later, I stumbled upon an interesting article on Truth-Out.org, Reclaim MLK: Beyond Sanitized Narratives. The story opens like this: “The iconic Martin Luther King Jr., whom we are encouraged to celebrate – who single-handedly ended Jim Crow with one epic, color-blind speech -bears little resemblance to the radical, imperfect man who was jailed dozens of time for his organizing within the black freedom movement. His legacy has largely been isolated, sanitized, repackaged and labeled divine: a convenient status that encourages passive messiah worshiping over grassroots community organizing. This is no accident.”

This opening paragraph made an impact on me, and I continued reading. The article went on, stating, “We find the roots of the civil rights movement in the women-led campaigns protesting sexual violence. Within this, King was one of many skillful leaders, clever tacticians and brilliant strategists. He understood that change would not come unless demanded through acts of civil disobedience, saying, “I see no alternative to direct action and creative nonviolence to raise the conscience of the nation.”

Perhaps it’s time to take an even closer look at the stories we’ve been told, and especially the stories that we tell ourselves. Have you checked your narrative lately? Aren’t you only as good as the story you tell yourself about who you are and what you’re capable of—what we’re collectively capable of?

Perhaps things do have a way of coming full circle. Here’s the end of the MLK article: “King reminds us: ‘We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late…. We must move past indecision to action…. Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful struggle for a new world.’”

Together, we will do what I cannot do alone.

Jerry & Pat Hocek, Publishers