In a 2020 column published in The Washington Informer and several other Black newspapers, my headline stated that Black folks should honor Brother Martin Luther King Jr., as a warrior and master teacher; not a dreamer. At the risk of being repetitious, I am making that request again after seeing, hearing and reading commentary acknowledging the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington.
It was extremely annoying to hear way too many speakers and news organizations in 2023 repeatedly describing Brother Martin as a dreamer. For instance, in its Aug. 27, 2023, issue, The Washington Post, one of the most influential newspapers in this country, included an article with the headline, “An oral history of the rally, 60 years after King’s dream.” Another article in the same issue was titled, “Thousands signal a rededication to civil rights on Mall: At anniversary of 1963 march, speakers voice threats to King’s dream.” An article by President Joe Biden in the paper’s Aug. 28, 2023, issue was titled, “We must keep on marching towards Dr. King’s dream.”
The kind of treatment of Brother Martin, a warrior against White supremacy, is probably shared by most Whites in the country and, unfortunately way too many Black folks. My suggestion is that all of them pay more attention to the Brother Martin who said the following about the absolute necessity for Black unity in the battle to promote and protect our human rights: “A second important step that the Negro must take is to work passionately for group identity. … Group unity can do infinitely more to liberate the negro than any action of individuals. We have been oppressed as a group and we must overcome that oppression as a group.” That’s a call for Black unity as strong as those by Brother Marcus Garvey and Brother Malcolm X.
On the critical issue of economics, Brother Martin was also way more than a dreamer. “Black power is a call for pooling of Black financial resources to achieve economic security. … Although the Negro is still at the bottom of the economy, his collective annual income is upwards of $30 billion. This gives him a considerable buying power that can make the difference between profit and loss in many businesses. Through the pooling of such resources and the development of habits of thrift and techniques of wise investments, the Negro will be doing his share to grapple with his problems of economic deprivation. If Black Power means the development of this kind of strength within the Negro community, then it is a request for basic, necessary, legitimate power.”
As far as I know, very few, if any, speaker at the 60th anniversary event or journalists covering it dealt with brother Martin’s strong positions on the importance of Black unity and collective economics. If we had done so, we would be in a much stronger position to promote and protect our basic interests in 2023 and beyond.
