Happy Belated B-Day Dr. King

Since college, I’ve made it a yearly practice to re-read Letter from Birmingham Jail on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day. If you’ve never read it, or haven’t read it in a while, I encourage you to take 30 minutes and read the words of a man who was incarcerated after a peaceful protest and used his time alone to answer the criticism of his fellow ministers.

Dr. King’s manner of patience, civility and reasoning with logic amazes me each time I read this piece. I have always identified more with Malcolm X’s response to the segregation of the 1960’s and the establishment of separate but equal way of life. The duality between Malcolm X and Dr. King fascinates me. Each of these men worked at the opposite end of the spectrum to resolve to the same problem. Dr. King took a top down approach, working at a macro level with the leaders of the establishment to create change from the outside in. Malcolm worked at a micro level to create on a sense of Nationalism, where rights weren’t derived, but instead assumed through economic freedom. Each approach helped to expand the conversation, encouraging others to join in the remedy, and enable the next generation to stand on their shoulders for a greater achievement.

I often wonder what these transformational leaders would say about the issues of discrimination and how it’s manifesting itself today. Would they see same prejudice mindset enclosed in new wrapping (The Jena Six, Proposed Immigration Policies or Civil Unions vs. “Marriage”) or would they see progress being made (a nationally viable Presidential candidate of color, minority ownership in across corporate America) as the fruits of their labor decades ago continue to blossom?