The Meaning of It All

MLK Day: It's more than the events; it's about coming to a new understanding of what we can learn from Dr. King's words--and his legacy

Today I participated in only my second MLK Day march in the space of five years. This is partially because for the last three I actually, scandalously haven't had the day off from work (I took a vacation day today) but mostly because I'm lazy. The 'point' of the march is different for different people; some go specifically to remember Dr. King; some go to expose their kids to the reality behind the holiday; some go to be a voice for their particular human rights or justice-related cause; some go to dress up weird and march in a parade and be on TV.

Last time I went, I got to hear Coretta Scott King speak and had some lovely interaction with fellow marchers. Last time, the big issue was the impending Iraq war, and a record number of white folks came out to protest that. This time, the most visible 'issue' was the impending primary elections, the outcome of which may just have as far-reaching results as our failed Shock&Awe campaign.

Generally, everyone's outward behavior was quite civil (including--technically-- the very silent man on the Auburn St. sidewalk with the sign saying "Jesus is Lord Hell Awaits You"--as were the amazing bystanders standing peacefully around him). I walked behind a group of Fired Up Ready To Go Obama supporters (of multiple races and ages) who had nifty chants and creative signs, and even when The Hillary People came next to us, we just waved and smiled pumping our signs (I had an Amnesty Int'l sign for Troy Davis), and as far as I know, none of them breathed fire or shot us the evil eye or anything. It may have, indeed, been the first time recently that I've seen the two camps seem just fine with letting people have whatever opinions they choose to have.

But one experience that is a repeat from my last march is this: afterward, lying on my bed, all my limbs aching with exhaustion from the day, I'm still thinking about Dr. King and what he really stands for, beneath all of the weird pop culture garlands we've buried him with. Excuse me if I say that for many, his name has almost the equivalent magic of the Miss America Answer ("World Peace!"). In other words, if you're white and don't want to appear racist, say how much you love MLK. If you're black and want to talk about civil rights, MLK is a sure bet, whereas you have to sweat over whether to quote Malcom X or not. It's easy to put Dr. King up on a mural or put his face on the bulletin board during Black History Month.

We all know "I have a dream..." but many of us don't know the layers and layers of deep, rich substance and tension that lay beneath those often-glibly quoted words.

And that's why I think that revisiting Dr. King's life and his writings and sermons and speeches is part of the holiday still acting as a catalyst for change in our lives.

Here are some generally famous words of Dr. King that usually aren't used in sound bytes or sermons. I saw them quoted today on a blog that was saying how relevant the words are to the '08 election at hand. (That conjecture was a bit hard for me to see. But I'll get to that in a minute.)

I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. . . . .

You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking.

But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.
. . . .
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
. . . .

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
. . . 

[We] who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with an its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

Remember, these words were being applied to the present election. Time periods from totally different planets, I would say. Yet--we're so thirsty for meaningful existence as part of our postmodern landscapes that, in a way, we can't be blamed for drawing comparisons between the huge tragedies or hardships referred to in the Bible with our light daily trials (such as getting a ticket or watching our favorite American Idol contestant go b-bye).

Still.

All this to say, I was thinking about something today: how soft we all are. We freak out over stupid things and have no patience or resolve or selflessness. And then we want credit for every good thing we do or for every 'hard' thing we go through.

We like to hail MLK and sing the refrain of the familiar stories that have images splashed onto our minds forever, like the fire hoses & the dogs; the marchers on the bridge and the police; the freedom rides and the people walking in droves; the speech on the Washington mall. We like to rewind and repeat the images and sound bites for their emotion and their reassurance of our present safety and freedom.

But we forget the long hours and days and nights and weeks and months of suffering, whether the public and private indignity diffused throughout the Southern landscape, both city and country--or the days in that dark, cramped cell, not knowing how much longer.

We forget the sleepless nights or the fear for one's children; the decision to be willing to forfeit one's relative 'peace' that seemed so hard-won for the chance of greater and truer freedom.

So--the problem is that we regard our freedom too cheaply, in concept rather than by way of blood-stained experience. I remember these hidden images not as something my life is directly connected to, but rather, just one face of the experience I feel the people of our generation lack perspective of. I could make more lists of images, but tonight those are the ones that stick with me.