My impression of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is that he wasn’t trying to be a celebrity, to be a star, to be a legend.
He wasn’t trying to be part of the triumvirate that began appearing on so many walls of Black people in the late 1960s. You know who I am talking about: The three pictures of Dr. King, President John F. Kennedy and white Jesus!
I guess you could call the display of them in homes as the equivalent of modern day Facebook!
Makes you wonder if Dr. King would have been verified by Twitter, or if he would have sported millions of fans and followers on other social media platforms.
Would he have had trolls or folks assassinating his character? Would he have been focused on being “liked” or doing the work?
Would he have been doing work in hopes that a holiday would be named in his honor or monuments erected in his likeness?
Which brings me to my truth.
Noted hip hop genius Chuck D of Public Enemy often said, “stop looking for a leader and be one,” or the “helping hand you are looking for is at the end of your wrist!”
I love the journalism students who cross my path and talk about their love of journalism and their future plans for writing that impactful, earth-shattering expose that will lead to world peace or the righting of many societal ills.
I have mad love for those who want to be celebrities too. After all, this is the society we live in. Some want to tell the story, others want to be the story
It’s important to note; however, that there is a difference between going down in history and going down in infamy, or just going down.
I told one student, “I can help you produce work that will be celebrated but I don’t make celebrities.”
Dr. King and so many others put in the work.
It wasn’t easy for him or others. Not minimizing anyone’s suffering, but is someone unfriending you or making a meme about you the worse thing happening to you? Would anyone even know you existed if there were never a thing called social media?
Live life, have fun, do you. But also put some work in!
And we must be sure to continue recog- nizing those whose works are worthy of celebrating because the result is, their efforts encourage others and society benefits.
Come out and meet some of the “giants” in our communities, on January 17, 2022, from 10am-5 pm at the African American Museum for the Realizing the Dream Healthy Living Expo, sponsored by Comerica Bank, Lankford Avenue, The Dallas Morning News, Don’t Believe the Hype Foundation, Heroes House, Black Business Directory, City Men Cook, MOCCA Cosmetics, African American Museum, Positive Influences, Dallas County HHS, Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists, Warning Radio and I Messenger Media.
