I guess that it was the convergence of many issues that silenced my pen this past MLK day. This was the first time that my pen remained dormant regarding Dr. King on this day of remembrance. Now, I do not want you to jump to any conclusions that I oppose the philosophies or goals of Dr. King.

I do not.

In fact, Dr. King’s steadfast belief in The Gospel is a position that I aspire to reach. I am unashamed to admit that I have not reached that destination.

Ironically, the catalyst behind my decision to allow my pen to remain silent was encouraged by one of the many celebrations of the Civil Rights stalwarts legacy. Truthfully, the alluded to event was not much different from other celebrations I have participated in over the years.

While listening to the panelists give their views regarding Dr. King’s legacy, I became increasingly bothered by the never-ending insistence that Dr. King’s commitment to non-violence was the only path forward and not a strategy he decided to use for many reasons.  The familiar portrait being painted depicted Dr. King, and therefore Black folks, as an old reliable mule determined to travel up James Cleveland’s Rough Side of the Mountain. I am sure that you understand how troubling, such depictions are to my Revolutionary Nationalist soul. Along with many others, I view such presentations as a sly strategy perpetrated by opponents who desire and benefit from Black America’s continuing trials-and-tribulations.

In many ways, the argument is a simple yet damning one that calls for Blacks to remain “salt of the Earth people” who in the words of Michelle Obama, “go high when they (their opponents of all colors and political leanings) go low.” Trust me when I say that if awards were given out for being long-suffering and refusing to confront avowed enemies, Black America’s trophy case would overflow. Yet, no such awards are presented in this earthly realm. In fact, punishment and scorn are visited on those who refuse to confront their enemies and fight them at every turn.

In many ways, I consider it treasonous for Black leaders to spew a depiction of Dr. King that misleads our people into believing that the Civil Rights patriarch was not committed to Black liberation in ways that extend further than a pedestrian passive, non-violent civil disobedience. I do not possess the words to describe how I feel about non-Blacks who are permitted to advance flimsy revisionist history that promotes a Gandhian philosophy as the primary catalyst behind Dr. King’s actions instead of Bayard Rustin’s wisdom.  Such people are either not well-versed enough in Civil Rights history or are deliberately seeking to convince Blacks that any response to the violence (physical, political, economic, social, etc.) doled out by their opponents means that they have betrayed the legacy of Dr. King.

As always, Black scholars’ voices must stand at the forefront of Black students’ understanding of Dr. King. Unfortunately for Black America, many of these voices are untrustworthy ones seeking to convince future generations of potential Black activists that they can love their way to freedom and gain acceptance from avowed enemies by refusing to fight. I am quite sure that Black leaders throughout the annals of time, a number that includes Dr. King, would agree with Frederick Douglass’ admonishment to all that “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.”

It is past time that Black America stops listening to those seeking to convince them that their subordination is not attributable to men who have methodically perpetrated multiple forms of violence against their kind for centuries. Blacks must awaken to the undeniable reality that the oppressive power that has worked against them will never subside because they have chosen a path of moral superiority. As Frederick Douglass noted over a century ago, “Power concedes nothing without a demand,” and the voices of multi-colored wolves in sheep’s clothing that seek to keep Blacks naïve, defenseless, and willing victims of oppression in the name of moral superiority must be muted by any means necessary.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2021.