When I need to overcome obstacles and racism, I remember Dr. King

The recent rash of deaths of Blacks by policemen have reminded me of Martin Luther King and his response to racism and obstacles that must be overcome.

I remember a speech of Dr. Benjamin Hooks as he remembered the last time he heard Martin Luther King speak. I too remember hearing that speech. I hear it over and over in my head when I encounter things that appear to much to bear. King was gloomy and predicted a stormy and turbulent future for the nation’s Blacks despite gains made in the Civil Right movement. We have seen it with attacks on affirmative action. We saw it when the U.S. Supreme Court eviscerated the Voting Rights Act. Blacks did not take to the street and protest. Civil Rights gains have been eroded over time. I remember Dr. King speaking until tears rolled down his face as he talked about dying. There were death threats if he did not stop pushing for Civil Rights. He said, “I am not afraid of dying. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. I have been to the mountain top….”.  I remember this as his “Mountain Top” speech. This was his last speech on earth. He was killed the next day. Hooks told us once that when King spoke that night before his death, he was mesmerizing. It was as if he knew the future would bear such threats as David Duke, black-on-black killings, Ronald Reagan, and young affluent Blacks and minorities who would show no concern about the ongoing fight for equal rights and justice. These same young Blacks say that they are not voting with the challenge of losing even more rights even if the wrong Justice is appointed to the United States Supreme Court. They are in denial of the history of Blacks and Civil Rights in this country. They do not care about protecting or maintaining the ongoing fight for equality and justice. They oppose one affluent Black athlete who took a knee in the singing of the National Anthem because he said he was tired of the hypocrisy and denial and wanted to do something about it. I was struck when I saw a whole junior varsity team vow to take a knee for the rest of the season. One little player said, ” I am young but I know some things. I should not be afraid to walk on the street because of the color of my skin.”

I was wrongly incarcerated because I was “engaging in criminal behavior for a decade by being a lawyer and social worker fighting for justice and against the system of judicial corruption” according to the prosecutor. In order to cope, I went back to the history of Blacks in America and how Dr. King dealt with obstacles and racism.  I remember  thinking of his words when I decided to fight judicial corruption and did not have the money. He said, “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.” I remember his letters from jail. He said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” When I became afraid after being stalked, burglarized almost daily and stripped of everything I owned and my licenses unfairly, I heard these words: “We must build dykes of courage to hold back the flood of fear. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.  A man who will not die for something is not fit to live. Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” When I felt so angry about things I did not know where to turn, I heard: ” Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. No person has the right to rain on your parade. We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.” When I doubted that I could start and continue this fight, I heard: ” Faith is taking the first step even when you cannot see the whole staircase. Our lives begin to end the day when we become silent about things that matter. ” When I have problems with people and we do not seem to get along, I hear: “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they do not know each other; they do not know each other because they have not communicated with each other. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” When I want to hold a grudge, I hear: “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”

As a Black woman I remember a quiet talk with Rosa Parks in her later years. Talks with Erma Henderson as she encouraged me by telling me of her fights to get elected in Michigan and her fight to help unionize. She encouraged me to learn as much as I could and keep fighting. I had the example of a social worker with a strong sense of her Blackness and place as a Black woman in America in Razia. I had the history of racism in education and my personal life and my daily struggles. I had and lived a non Anglo- Saxon protestant point of view and life that my son was frequently reminded of when he was a student at the University of Michigan. I could draw on history and past experiences. I can draw hope from remembering white leaders like Robert Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson and others. Now we are seeing some indication that racial discrimination is not over. We are seeing signs that the struggle for justice is not over. Public Black killings appear to be returning.  We must nip these killings in the bud. We can draw from the past. We have been here before. We have had mass murders of Blacks, bombing of Black schools, police murders of Blacks, assassination of our leaders. I draw on the past of Blacks and poems and writings of Maya A. I loved her poem, “And Still I Rise” and others. My fight against the corruption in the criminal justice system pales in comparison. I am still alive. I can hear Dr. King say: ” I will not allow any man bring me so low as to hate him. I have decided to stick to love. Hate is too great a bundle to bear. It is love that will save our civilization, love even for our enemies.” I draw on my past and history of the Black race to cope with obstacles and racism. Where do young Blacks and minorities go who are withdrawing and do not want to vote with hell breaking out around them? What will give them a sense of caring about someone  other than themselves? I draw on Maya and Dr. King and all my forefathers. I marvel at their strength and courage. Who and what do they look to and what are their goals for the future? Let us hope they find something soon. Let us pray!