The MLK Burden: Moving Beyond the Dream

It is extremely difficult to write anything new about Dr. Martin Luther King jr. because quite frankly, everything has already been written about him. The task is daunting; comparable to writing about Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and for some, it is just as sacred. Nevertheless, when one considers all the annual celebrations in his memory along with the honor of being the only African-American to have a National holiday, it is almost unthinkable. Elementary School children as well as U.S. Presidents past and present, quote Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream,” speech with awe and reverence for this remarkable man; and yet, is this really the way that MLK would want to be remembered?

So often, we hear the speeches and read the words of Martin Luther King jr. but without understanding the man that he was. If we want to understand MLK, then we have to go beyond the “I Have a Dream” speech and the march on Washington D.C., into viewing old newsreel footage, personal interviews, letters, excerpts of his doctoral thesis and other writings; which reveal a surprisingly complex man full of contradictions, doubts, fears, resolve, and extraordinary courage; and one who wasn’t always so sure that “Non-violence was the Answer.”

Martyrdom does make one into a ‘saint,’ and one wonders in retrospect, if MLK had not been assassinated, would he be as revered as he is today? Is the symbol greater than the man? In death, Dr. Martin Luther King jr. was ‘perfected’ and he cannot ever be anything other than what we would like to remember that he was in our hearts; even if he never wanted to be elevated to such a “celebrity.” Martin Luther King jr. didn’t make history, but rather it made him. He merely continued in the footsteps of Sojourner Truth, Pastor Vernon Johns, Emmett Till, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, and other citizens who fought for justice, equality, dignity, and respect.

There were other voices in the Black community who were more restless with being mistreated by Whites in the America of MLK’s times, and “Turning the Other Cheek” was not their response to being beaten up by the police; and subjected to acts of brutality and lawlessness, especially by those who were supposed to be upholding the Law. Not only that, but the vision of MLK, who saw himself, as “the conscious voice,” of those socially, educationally, and economically insignificant, oppressed, and marginalized Negro people, who the United States government failed to guarantee the rights of full citizenship according to the Constitution. His ‘Dream’ was that others would take up the Civil Rights banner and continue to march on until victory is won; not just simply talk about the things that he did some four decades later.

Yes, for Martin Luther King jr. it was just a “Dream” but for us, we need to wake up and stop ‘dreaming,’ quit re-living the past, and let’s stop dishonoring Dr. King because the more we continually celebrate his accomplishments year after year without doing anything ourselves, we make him into nothing more than a mere ‘symbol.’ A symbol is not a ‘real’ thing in the world and what we need now is something more tangible and concrete, emerging from the shadows of myth, imagination and memory to make a change that is morally imperative, spiritually viable, socially acceptable and sustainable to such an extent that a ‘dream’ is no longer necessary.



Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
January 21, 2008
pbks@hotmail.com