Cornel West once said, "You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people if you don't serve the people." No two men embodied this love ethic more than Brothers Malcolm and Martin. And as our nation commemorates Rev. King's birthday it is only right that we take time out to reflect on our hard won rights. Paid in blood and paid in full. The night has been long, but we made it to the other side, we saw the rays of a bright new sun.
On my last day on the job as a student-teacher at a NYC public high school, I decided to throw off the kid gloves. I came out swinging. I was trying to engage them in some conversation over the 2008 election - aka, the most important Presidential race of our generation. Who were they down with and why? But the kids were more interested in talking about which member of the senior class wore the freshest gear and had on the most expensive high end kicks (although most were from the same working class neighorhoods. We'll leave the conversation on conspicuous consumption for another time). The kids for the most part did not care and had no intension of getting involved in civic issues. There are probably one hundred good reasons for this type of pervasive apathy. Endemic poverty, miseducation, the forsaken promise of the battle for equal rights are but a few. We know this, but it is my prayer that we do not let this golden opportunity pass us by. If we don't inspire a new generation of educated voters we are not only then we are in effect taking the future out of our hands.
We have the chance to light a fire within a whole generation. We demand change, because it is ours to have. It is our right and our legacy.
Rest in power Brother Martin.
Rest in power Brother Malcolm.
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