Honoring Dr. King

What can we say about Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. that hasn't already been said?

His verbal eloquence has been universally discussed by various and sundry wordsmiths everywhere. His intrepid stance in the face of adversity is widely known. His decision not to "take low" as they say amongst Black folks, even when his very life was on the line, makes him not only a revered ancestor, but a legend in the annals of American history in general, Black history in particular.

Sen. Barack Obama stands on his shoulders. Financial wizards like Richard Parsons and BET's former owner/operator Bob Johnson, stand on his shoulders.

Today, some of the ungrateful rap artists have King to thank for the freedom,—but not the right—they have to denigrate Black women, including their mamas, because of King's fight not necessarily for integration, but for equal access.

What indeed can we say about King? Most know who he was. Few can imagine the price he paid —paid for the black masses who won't be jailed if they bother to vote. Or, the men and women on the lower rung of the socio-economic ladder who otherwise would have been lost in the shuffle had not King and others like him, put forth an effort to not let "nobody" turn them around.

He will be remembered this month with flowery phrases and lengthy retrospectives. That's nice. But, really, what can we say to honor King that hasn't already been said?

We can say with our money, “no justice, no profit.” We will say with our votes, “no justice, no pulpit access,” to any politician—black, white and other. We will say with our voices that we "ain't no ways tired; we've come too far from where we started from.” We will say with our dollars, “we are the deciders about where our monies will circulate. No justice, no ducats.”

Hey, it's the American way. And, like King, we in Black America are Americans, whether anyone likes it or not.