First Blog / Large Up MLK

Greetings and love to all!

Well, this is my first blog. Truthfully, I wasn't exactley sure what a blog was a year or so ago, but now it seems to be a cultural mainstay, so I guess I&I had to get with the times. So here goes nothing, an open door to my thoughts and a massive communication to disinterested ears!...

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a national holiday and an infamous day off for students and adults alike. Very few people however actually spend any time reflecting on the meaning of this day and what MLK and other Civil Rights leaders did to bring in a new era of justice and equality based on human dignity. I find it hard to fathom how only 40 or so years ago, African-Americans in our country were still being treated as second-class citizens in certain areas and suffered under oppressive segregation, violence and terror. Lawmakers and law-enforcers holding positions of responsibility perverted justice and denied their own fellow citizens (and human beings!) certain unalienable rights that have been given freely to all of humanity by God alone.

The younger generations today do not fully comprehend the sacrifices made by ones such as MLK who were martyred in the struggle. Things are taken for granted, even by the grandchildren and great-grandchilden of Civil Rights activists themselves. Many people in this country do not realize that it is our responsibility to treat people with fairness and integrity and to stand publicly for what is right rather than follow a crowd to do evil. Although it would appear that the fires of racism have been quenched, it still burns in the hearts of many. The struggle is not over either here in America or in other parts of the world. Even today as I looked forward to reading some articles of MLK on the web, I came across white-supremacy sites disguised as a tribute and instead filled with slander. All it takes is a weakheart or a young mind to be deceived by the clever wording and inventions of hateful people.

So on this day, let us teach ourselves and teach the youths the truth about history's painful lessons and appreciate the struggles of those who chose to fight against oppression, because evil always finds new ways to manifest when people become complacent. Honor JAH by living out truth in action in I&I world today and set an example. Tribute to the martyrs, large up MLK!

Oneness! Guidance Everlasting!

JAHsh

"...And every now and then I think about my own death, and I think about my own funeral. And I don't think of it in a morbid sense. Every now and then I ask myself, 'What is it that I would want said?'... I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try, in my life, to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say, on that day, that I did try, in my life, to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; I was a drum major for righteousness." - Martin Luther King, Jr. (Sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Feb. 4, 1968)