Born on January the 15th, 1929, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr would be 95 years old this January 15th, 2024.
To honor a man who fought for peace and justice for all, his birthday is recognized as a national holiday. For some, his birthday is also a “day-on” or a day of service for volunteers to come together and improve their communities. While national holidays and volunteer days are good ways to recognize or remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, How would Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, want himself to recognized, remembered?
In my opinion. from the little I know about him, he would want his passion, his life work to continue someway, shape or form and he would want you to know why he lived the life he lived and why it is important for you too, to get involved.
To understand the why someone lived a certain way we tend to look at their upbringing, their environment, the general circumstances happening during
those times.
For example, Fredrick Douglas was born in slavery in the 1700’s, escaped,, wrought The Narrative of Fredrick Douglas and the Life and Times of Fredrick Douglass, which not only tell aspects of life through the eyes of a black boy and later man during slavery, but also a glimpse into the Civil War, the Underground Railroad, the Emancipation Proclamation, the independence of Haiti, etc. These events happened during the life of Frederick Douglass. But that’;s another story for another day. Today, we are talking about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who, like Fredrick Douglass wrote books that gives to the reader the lay of the land and why and how we are navigating through it.
Dr. Martin Luther King’s first book, Â
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story.- tells the story ; of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the beginning of the Nonviolent Civil Rights Movement.
His last book:
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
He begins this book with the signing of the Bill of Rights and he cheer of victory to lead towards a rising white resistance in the North and the South. He called it a Whitelash” (very similar to what happened in America after Barack Obama..that’s another story)
Stanford University has a pretty good one-pager of this book here.
But this one-pager from the King Institute. leaves out my favorite part of the book – Dr.King’s overview of Operation Breadbasket.
Operation Breadbasket was making companies accountable to serve the needs of Black people – poor people. Operation Breadbasket was the engine behind “the movement.” Press conferences were being held to boycott companies that did not hire Black people.
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For example, if Operation Breakfast was around today, African-American’s would not be less than 2% in the tech industry. No way would billions of dollars be able to travel into space before reaching the under-served Black communities.Â
If not only Operation Breadbasket was functioning today, but was able to continue functioning and growing now 56 years later.
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“What could we do to keep Dr. King’s legacy alive?”
I say volunteering in the community is a good thing but whats most important is to read his books. Let him tell you. Read Dr. Kings books yourself!
Hotep!
DR
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I would first wonder who is asking. Or rather, what do you know of me? Do you know about my experience…my activism… i.e. The SCLC, The Montgomery Improvement Association, the impact previous leaders works, i.e. Mohandas Gandhi in India, Marcus Garvey in Jamaica. Have your read my books? Especially my last book?
Author: David Roach
Graduated from Morehouse College in 1991 in Business Finance. President of the Bay Area Morehouse Alumni Association. Founder of Mo' Better Food the Oakland International Film Festival.
