Jeff Delp's Blog
Martin Luther King Day in Atlanta / Jan 18, 07:11 AM
After living in Atlanta for the past 6+ years, I have begun to take for granted that the MLK holiday is appropriately celebrated here in the birthplace of Dr. King, at least in terms of the attention it gets. Over the next few days, the news stations and newspapers will lead in with the activities surrounding the MLK weekend instead of the normal robbery and murder stories that they normally lead with. I forget how many other parts of the country only give the holiday a little attention, if any at all.
However, I wonder if even in Atlanta, the holiday has seemed to have lost some of its luster. I wonder if Dr. King was around today, what would he say about the holiday named for himself. On Monday, all of the politicians will fight for a spot close to the cameras and will make speeches lauding Dr. King and the progress we have made as a nation since his assassination forty years ago. The celebration here in Atlanta has turned into a sort of hero worship and agenda pushing rather than justice pushing. Please hear me, Dr. King’s life and legacy are definitely worth remembering and honoring, I am not suggesting we end that.
But I wander if instead of having a star-studded service in the New Horizons Sanctuary of Ebenezer Baptist, a rally was held on the steps of Grady Memorial Hospital to bring light to the injustice of its possible closing, or a rally was held on Buford Highway to help bring some of the same civil rights that were fought for 45 years ago amongst the African American community to the Latino community today, or if people went to their local schools to demand more funding to schools instead of watching precious resources fund a useless, overly expensive war which robs our communities of our young people (this reminds me of my favorite bumper sticker: It will be a great day when: Schools will have all of the funds they need and the military will have to hold bake sales to raise money).
To me, those would be better ways of remembering the legacy of Dr. King than what will happen this weekend. The problem is that Sonny Perdue (Governor of Georgia) wouldn’t show up on the steps of Grady, or at a store in Plaza Fiesta, or speak out against the war, nor would more than half of the other politicians that will set foot in the service honoring Dr. King on Monday. And yet, those are the things that Dr. King stood for. Dr. King was a drum major for justice. In one of his final sermons, Dr. King talked about being remembered not for his accomplishments but for his actions. And yet, as we begin to celebrate Dr. King’s life and legacy this weekend, we are doing exactly what he asked us not to.
So as you begin to think about how you will celebrate the King holiday next week, think about what Dr. King stood for and do it. Don’t stop at thinking about it, or remembering it, do it. That is the legacy of Dr. King. He was a great orator and a great motivator, but ultimately, he was an amazing doer. His words were not empty. He led with his feet, not his mouth. Go out there and demand justice. Stand up and speak out against those forces that are trying to promote an unjust world. That will truly be celebrating with Dr. King and not just his legacy.
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thanks for your insight. the rally at the end of the march/parade was a bit depressing in light of what you wrote ahha.
my favorite chant of the march:
oh~ sonny! get up off of that money!!
By joycekim / Jan 22, 11:58 AM / #