In the King's service - Sisterspeak - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

I was 9 years old in 1967 when I had the honor of meeting Dr. King. It was at O'Hare Airport, and I was going to Atlanta with my parents and Dr. King had returned to Chicago to continue his campaign for freedom in the North. The King I met on that day was a flesh-and-blood man, not a media king. I remember his laugh. It was deep and welled up from the tips of his toes and exploded from his lips. I vaguely remember his presence, which seemed larger than life to me. I hardly remember hugging him and talking about school. But I remember his laugh. I will always remember his laugh.

And I am reminded today that it is becoming harder and harder to Find and honor the real King. Our challenge as we get further and further away from the real King is to find and honor the real Martin Luther King Jr. in real celebrations.

Rap stars and the kids today have a saying: "Just keep it real." The first challenge in honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 2003 is to keep it real. I'm fortunate because some of my colleagues actually knew him as a young man and worked closely with him until his death. They tell me that King as a young man loved to have a good time. He loved soul food: red beans and rice, greens and ham hocks and pigs' feet. He also loved to dance. He loved a good party, and he loved to laugh.

And so, let's keep it real.

The King we honor today was not honored in his time. Like the apostles of Christ, King was despised for his message, and those who followed him were hated as well. King was first arrested in 1956 when he was 27 years old. He was arrested every year after that until he was killed in 1968. He was stabbed, his home was bombed, his family was harassed and his life was threatened daily. Like most prophets, he was reviled, hunted down and martyred for his beliefs. King's mentor, Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, said King was called of God like the prophets of old, like Amos and Micah in the 8th century, B.C., and Isaiah and Hosea who preached love and forgiveness centuries ago.

Our challenge then is to get beyond the media King that the image-makers and revisionists have created. King was more than one speech, one march, one Movement. His message was radical in 1960, and it is still radical today.

"I choose to identify with the underprivileged," King said. "I choose to identify with the poor. I choose to give my life for the hungry. I choose to give my life for those who have been left out of the sunlight of opportunity. I choose to live for those who find themselves seeing life as a long and desolate corridor with no exit sign. This is the way I'm going. If it means suffering a little bit, I'm going that way. If it means sacrificing, I'm going that way. If it means dying for them, I'm going that way, because I heard a voice saying, `Do something for others.'"

You probably won't hear that quote this month. That is faith in the face of fear. King didn't get much rest or peace in his time on earth. And when we honor his courage, his strength to love in the face of hate and his ability to act in the face of fear, we should reflect on what his courage cost him--and make his holiday a day of service to others. King didn't die so that we could hit the newly named "Martin Luther King Jr. Day" sales.

King saw Jim Crow dress up as James Crow esquire, and in the year 2003, we see Jim Crow dressed up as Jim Crow dot-com.

Hate does not rest. And we should not rest until we each personally pick up the torch King passed to future generations. Work for voter registration. "People died horrible deaths on lonely Southern roads so we could vote," says an early King biographer.

We have to stop looking in the marketing tomb for King. His powerful oratory and message can't be reduced to sound bites. Read the words of Dr. King. He left books; he left sermons; he left instructions.

We honor King by our service to the least of our brothers and sisters. That is the most fitting tribute to his legacy, that his work and his message continue to live through us. For we do not celebrate the entombed King, but the living one.

And as the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. says, if we follow King, instead of just admiring him, we can all join with him in singing the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!"

COPYRIGHT 2003 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group