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SHIRLEE IS THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER:HAVE WE ARRIVED?
Published On 01-17-2010 , 7:53 AM
I'M not too sure that the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday will help the public see the light. While it is the only national holiday honoring an African American, "Uh, who?" comes the quick response from our black, white and brown young people. Give `em a long stare mention Martin's name and then the response becomes, "Oh, yeah, yeah, that guy."
To be fair about the matter, a mention of Presidents Day, celebrating Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, would probably draw pretty much of the same commentary.
I did a Jay Leno "Man on the Street" kind of survey the other day at a McDonald's where high school kids were stopping in on their way home from school. Surprisingly, there was some amount of knowledge expressed when I asked why no school on Monday.
"King had a dream. No, a speech about a dream," followed by chuckles.
"We're honoring whatever he did a long time ago."
"How much time do you have, `cause I can tell you?"
Does it really matter that the nation is honoring an African American? Who do my people think they are that this day should be for one of them? This holiday is for everyone. Trouble is too many of my people don't know who they are and when it comes to Martin Luther King Jr. - not the man but his deeds - we can more quickly talk about and identify with Kobe Bryant and Beyonce.
Sports and entertainment have for years, now, replaced the quest for equality and civil rights that King and so many others fought for. Black folk have arrived. We've won the battle. Racism doesn't exist. Opportunity is ours. The dream, whatever it was, has become a reality. Whatever reason should anyone harp on the past and dig up what used to be?
Black folks have arrived. We've got a black family in the White House. We lined up at the polls, marked our ballots when the sun was just coming up. We cheered and celebrated when the results came that night in November of 2008. Millions of black folk braved the cold to see for themselves America's first black president's inauguration.
Down the freeway in Los Angeles on Monday there will be a parade on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard sponsored, in part, by the Congress of Racial Equality.
In Pasadena, at Jackie Robinson Park on North Fair Oaks Avenue, is an event sponsored by the Martin Luther King Community Coalition, with student essay contest winners, speeches and church choirs.
Celebrations are going on everywhere and they are not happening because King's fight has been won or because black folk have arrived. Instead they are happening to provide opportunities to renew the commitment, to renew the struggle and to assess the gains.
"Making The Dream A Reality" is the theme at the Jackie Robinson Park event and as the keynote speaker, I don't plan to pull any punches when it comes to helping those in attendance recognize Barack Obama in the White House is not a case of the referee counting to 10 and signaling that black folk have scored a knock out.
This event begins at 8:30 a.m. with breakfast and a film. Program begins at 10 a.m. See you there.
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Comment
| | 1. | Well said Shirlee, well said! I hope you were able to get your point across because WE are a long way from "arriving!"
- by JoAnn Boyce, 01-18-2010, 8:44 PM
| | 2. | Shirlee,
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. being honored-and you giving the keynote speech-OUTSTANDING!!
YES WE CAN!!!
Hank
- by Hank Wilfong, 01-17-2010, 10:54 AM
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