On today, I’ve been reflecting on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s writings on time—especially in “Letter From A Birmingham Jail”—and the concepts later expanded upon in King’s book Why We Can’t Wait. Dr. King posited that time is neutral, and described the ways that it can work for our against us, especially as we pursue justice and freedom in societies controlled by forces bent on oppression.
For people of my generation, time has been held hostage, in a sense, by a litany of ever-expanding distractions and traumatizing incidents that stretch into decades. For us a nation, that has allowed for the hijacking, commercializing and systematizing of justice movements, and for sometimes less than obvious top down agendas.
During Dr. King’s era, aspects of those agendas were already evident in the motives of the federal government and others in sanctioned leadership, and Dr. King picked up on this and expressed these clashes in his later speeches and writings, much to the chagrin of many establishment leaders. This chaffing was on display in “Letter…” and Why We Can’t Wait. We have seen that waiting for “right time” to advocate for justice is a deadly tactic.
Now, as in 1963, such “patience” threatens to kill us, and the American dream. Dr. King was wrestling with the conflict of the vision and direction his work was leading him to, and the expectations and desires of the factions that had supported and made his work possible since the 1950s. As he evolved, he began to question and deconstruct the expectations of his allies and “friendly” critics.
We are in such a place today. What has our freedom come to mean? What is our vision of heritage as Americans? What are the costs of a vision that has not been preordained by a powerful political party, church body, civil rights organization, or wealthy trust fund? What happens when the mission does not fit the Call for Grants or Papers? We honor Dr. King, because he was willing to probe such questions, and paid the ultimate price in doing so.
What will be our legacy? What questions are we willing to ask, and at what cost?
#MartinLutherKing #MLK #MLKDay #WeCantWait #Philadelphia #Philly #Justice #Love #Birmingham #Montgomery
Tara Lake 