Can't lead millions? Embrace the values of MLK. Lead yourself to be an anti-racist in bite-sized chunks. .
Books for Young Kids: Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop Book by Alice Faye Duncan, "A Sweet Smell of Roses", Book by Angela Johnson.
Elementary school: My Dream of Martin Luther King, by Faith Ringgold
Teens: MARCH b John Lewis, a graphic novel trilogy
Parents/ Teens: “Why We Can’t Wait”, By Martin Luther King Jr
“Letters from the Birmingham Jail”, By Martin Luther King Jr
“Where Do we Go from Here: Chaos or Community”, By Martin Luther King
Movies: Selma, Ana De Vernay, King of the Wilderness, Peter Kunhardt
Why MLK???
Hello Everyone! This episode is more focused towards tweens to adults. Please listen through for ideas for the younger set.
When I was thinking about this podcast episode I wasn’t exactly thrilled about talking about MLK. I felt a bit obligated because this month we honor his birthday. Yes, he is a national hero and an amazing historical African American figure. But, like most white folks I learned of Martin Luther King through news or school. Personally, and regretfully, I feel he has been white washed down into a symbol of peaceful protest for the comfort of whites.
What you may not know is that millions of white Americans hated MLK. He disrupted the status quo. Especially after WWII, White Americans came back from fighting and reaped the rewards of the GI bill. While Black servicemen were sidelined and prevented access to those benefits. By the 1950’s Black Americans were again being shut out of the American Dream and the wealth that came from it. I didn’t know of the disdain towards MLK. I knew he was murdered but It never really sunk in. Again my white privilege gets me off the hook to not think deeply of racial justice because it doesn’t directly impact me.
I decided to push myself into exploring, What made this man? Why is he so important? And how can we relate what he has laid as groundwork for society and use it going forward?
MLK is an exceptional man. As a person that wants to do anti-racism work it can be intimidating. I found myself having to break down his racial justice mission into bite-sized chunks so I can find a way to go forward without organizing a million woman or man march or just giving up. Even breaking down his life is like a history class within itself. So, I will offer a synopsis barely touching his life’s work. There are vast amount of materials on him and I encourage you to explore.
MLK played many roles. If you distilled it down he was essentially a humanitarian.
What is a humanitarian? If you go to the United Nations website you can read “the Universal Declaration of Human rights”. Article #1 says “ All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” Pretty easy to comprehend. Scrolling further articles cover “rights without distinction or discrimination, the right of life, liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
There are limitless numbers of humanitarian crises in countries throughout the world. There are famines, natural disasters or people being executed or tortured for political, religious, gender or racial differences. Being a White American, I grew up with the idea that America is a humane country, and because these crises are not on my turf, I have the luxury to examine these atrocities as happening to “other” places and not on my homeland. I can “buy” an animal for a villager in Africa or donate money to a remote poverty stricken village but I am pretty removed from the poverty and strife.
Ok. Did I really say that? Yes I did. And I used to think this way. It wasn’t happening in my immediate world so it didn’t affect me.
As for Dr. King he was fighting for these basic human rights in his own country. In my country! He fought for the human rights of oppressed people that were being tortured, subject to degrading treatment, arbitrary arrest, deprived of property, denied equal pay for equal work, etc. His drive for the greater good of humanity was bigger than him. So big he could not turn his back on trying to right the wrongs of human oppression. He took a step and had faith that the next person, and the next, and the next would have faith in him and follow.
How did he become the leader he was?
The making of Martin Luther King Jr. is grounded in strong Christian Baptist values forged by his family, specifically his father and grandfather who were both preachers. Dr. King grew up in Atlanta, Georgia in a middle class black neighborhood that was bustling with prosperous Black businesses and churches. Both of his parents were college educated. Even though he had a very stable upbringing he was not immune to racism and degrading Jim Crow laws. Like the majority of Black families I have talked with he experienced racism early on when a white playmate told MLK that he couldn’t play with him because he was black. This was just the beginning of a lifetime of racism.
At 15 years old, he attended Morehouse college in Atlanta. But the summer before college he went to Connecticut to work on a tobacco farm. In a letter to his parents he wrote “Negroes and whites go [to] the same church,” “I never [thought] that a person of my race could eat anywhere.” It was a real eye opener how peacefully the races mixed in the North. This Northern experience only reinforced King’s growing hatred of racial segregation. It affected him personally and millions like him. Being personally affected by racism and watching his fellow black folks being oppressed by Jim Crow laws was the impetus of stopping racism for MLK.
In college he became acquainted with the philosophy of non-violence. He studied greats such as Henry Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, along with many more. King included Mahatma Gandhi among “individuals who greatly revealed the working of the Spirit of God” and embraced the idea, in Gandhi’s words, "Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed." Using the tools of non-violence, his Christian conviction, love as a means to conquer hate and his passion for racial justice culminated into a deep sense of hope for ending racism in America.
Like Ida B. Wells, W.E.B DuBois, to name a few, blazed a trail making it easier for MLK to follow. MLK’s first non-violent protest was a year-long boycott of the Montgomery bus system. Talk about patience and persistence! The boycott succeeded in the landmark decision confirming segregation was unconstitutional. This was the first crack that fractured the Jim Crow laws.
This also stoked the fires to keep fighting. Though King's home was bombed, anonymous phone callers made threats. King, former Senator John Lewis and others were beaten and jailed in mass arrests. But King steadfastly preached tolerance. "We must use the weapon of love," he told the New York Times. "We must have compassion and understanding for those who hate us." He would explain, "This approach certainly doesn't make the white man feel comfortable. It disturbs his conscience."
MLK thought non violence instilled a sense of shame in whites not comfort or the idea that blacks were meek or supine. He felt that if you are to fight with non-violence then you have to accept being the recipient of violence with the intent of not reciprocating with violence.
MLK believed so strongly in non-violence that he had the communities he worked with take courses in non-violence. His students would be put in a mock violent situation. Then he taught them strategies on how to react to prepare them. Children as young as 7 years old were trained and not allowed to march until they went through these courses. In the communities he entered, as a community leader, he had the support of prominent local Black organizations. They would strategize together because the locals would know the workings of the community.
As impactful as he was his non-violent path to racial equality was being challenged by other black scholars. MLK wanted to continue “loving” the oppressor no matter what because he thought it would wear them down. But the oppressor just played MLK. The Black community was tired of waiting to be treated with basic civil rights. Throughout American history Black people patiently waited for white Americans to treat all people equally. They waited and waited and waited and were and still, to this day, are tired of waiting.
In a PBS interview, other prominent leaders in the early 1960’s questioned MLK’s philosophy of non-violence. Malcolm x, thought King was playing into the hands of the whites. James Baldwin agreed with non-violence but thought that at a certain point blacks would start protecting themselves and seek revenge. In 1963 Malcolm X told interviewers, "The goal of Dr. Martin Luther King is to get Negroes to forgive the people who have brutalized them for 400 years, but the masses of black people in America today don't go for what Martin Luther King is putting down."
Malcolm X had many supporters and fought hard for black communities to have their basic needs met. He organized with a zeal that was intimidating to the white community and the price he paid was with his life ending far too short.
MLK worked tirelessly to bring awareness to America. Yet in 1963, one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation, there still were no civil rights for all peoples in the United States. In 1963, A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin planned a march on Washington that would call for the fair treatment and equal opportunity for Black Americans. Meanwhile MLK and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were planning a march for freedom. The two powerhouses combined led the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This is where MLK gave the famous “ We have a dream” speech. The dream he was speaking of was the “American Dream” that was available for white Americans not Black.
In the afterglow of the March on Washington, MLK wrote a book called “Why We Can’t Wait”. He emphasized the need to confront structural racism and inequality, leaning on nonviolent resistance, he prods readers to ground their political attitudes and actions in ethics, morals and intellectual consistency.
The non-violent protests brought attention to the strife of the racial inequality. Yet the lack of progress, complicity and the endless resistance to change forced MLK to redirect his attention. He decided to turn his energy towards working with President Robert F. Kennedy and the government to address institutional racism directly through politics, policy, funding, laws and enforcement of those laws by the government. He had very concrete ideas of how the racist institutional system could be changed from the top down. He envisioned overseeing this governmental process possibly even as a “Secretary of Integration”. Not only did he have a dream he clearly knew how to implement it.
MLK used every internal resource, especially his strong conviction for non-violence and external resources such as fellow civil rights leaders, media and politicians to build a coalition of millions. He pushed for the Civil Rights Act and he, along with John Lewis fought for the Voting Rights Act. By the mid 1960’s the black population started to reap the rewards of the seeds that were sewn. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which Senator John Lewis was heavily involved in passed.
The intrigue of how these Acts came about is fascinating. People giving their blood, bodies and life to fight for these basic human rights. The resources concerning his accomplishments are boundless on the internet. I encourage you to pursue it.
So how can a small person like me do anything to make a difference in a quagmire of racism in America? Let’s start with hope. I do have hope that we can find a way through our racially infused mindsets and differences to accept each other and treat each other humanely. It is obviously not an easy task but it is possible.
Individually we can start with what we know about ourselves.
Ask yourself “Why are you interested in ending racism?
How does it affect you?
What aspect of racial injustices really irks you? For some it is police brutality for others it is having schools incorporate books with kids of color in the curriculum.
If you want to see racial justice in this country and feel overwhelmed or hopeless there are so many bite-sized steps you can take to support others that are doing amazing work. Here are a list of questions that may spark you into feeling like you can do great and bite-sized work.
What are your skills? Can you volunteer? Do you want to work/volunteer locally? Do you want to work remotely? Can you write? Read and filter emails? Do graphic or web design? Make some calls? Take online classes to learn about talking with your kids about race? Make posters for a rally? Call local politicians? Call state legislatures? Talk to your local police department? Talk to your church? Can you donate money?
For every single leader there are multitudes following. These multitudes are the foundational support system of any leader.
You know how it is. You want to change something at your kids school but you are exhausted and don’t have the bandwidth to do it alone. So you take what little energy you have to rally three more people and now you are doing one quarter of the work.
Look at what is happening in the Capitol. There was an insurrection. Whether it was intended to be a non-violent political protest or not, it took hundreds playing different rolls to make it happen. Recently I read that there are major corporations withdrawing funding to any organization that participated in the insurrection. I, along with many, signed online petitions to pressure some of these corporations. For me it was a quick pop. The point of this is that If I wrote a letter to a major corporation it would eventually get read or probably be lost in the mix. But with thousands of emails from the majority of their customer base this can destabilize the company and they could go out of business. So as an individual, I may not directly have power to influence these corporations but I am one tiny part that can be the tipping point for action. You may not be able lead multitudes but you can lead yourself.
On a more macro level the corporate donors to politicians that opposed the electoral votes or who supported or participated in the insurrection at the Capitol felt the pressure from their customer base. One major corporation withdrew donations. This was followed by another and then another. Soon it became a ball of solidarity. The momentum attracted mutual values and gave each corporation courage to join the bandwagon.
This is an example of institutional power. By withdrawing funding, to the recipient of their donations, These corporations are sending a message that democratic dissidence is not acceptable. Can you imagine if they took their institutional power and chose to take a stance toward Anti-racism. They do have the power to change and implement anti-racist institutional policy. What would our country look like if the corporate world embraced anti-racism as their corporate policy? You can go to Ben and Jerry’s ice cream website to see their corporate mission statement as an example.
King’s optimism about political institutions declined over time, as he witnessed the increasingly violent opposition to racial justice. What is worth acknowledging is his unyielding belief in non-violence, his persistence, resilience, and pulling from his internal and external resources to help millions and to create deep social change.
As a parent I look at MLK as a great example of how to move forward working off key values he embodied.
For younger children fairness is always a concept they feel strongly about. Talk about fairness and how they feel when they are not treated fairly. Have your child tap into the awful feeling of being treated unfairly. Relate this unfairness to the unfairness of what Black people and Non-black people of color experience everyday. Ask your child, how would they feel if they couldn’t go to the same playground, school or library because they are different from others.
Another idea is being mad but not mean. I have to shout out to my kids school counselor, Ms. Keane, for teaching us this. Your child can get mad, like all of us can. It is what we do with this big giant emotion that makes a difference. When your child gets mad acknowledge it and help her release that emotion in a non-violent way. This work should be done before the child gets mad so you have a strategy. Refer back to Dr. King. He was mad about the injustices but he knew he needed to not lash out and hurt others even if he felt hurt.
Resilience: similar to grit. Let’s say your child is frustrated with their homework or the puzzle they are working on. They get mad and decide to give up. Unfortunately giving up denies them the opportunity to accomplish something that challenged them. When people are challenged, even in adverse situations their brains fire and light up to overcome the challenge. It is really healthy and even if they fail their brains still are stimulated due to the challenge. Depending on the age of your child push them to keep going. If they did make a mistake, ask them “what was the mistake?” What can they do differently? What did they learn from their mistake . MLK made many mistakes. Can you imagine if he gave up at the first protest? Where would our Friends of Color be now? MLK was resilient in the face of adversity.
Building a team. MLK couldn’t have done it alone. He had family, friends and community. He knew inorder for this societal problem to be solved he needed a team. Encourage your child to work with fellow students. Emphasize group projects. They will learn skills like shared experiences, how to delegate and how to allow others to have a voice in the process. They can learn the magic of diverse ideas and reach beyond their own. They can see the possibilities in teamwork. This can start in the home. Find small projects that your whole family can work on and clearly state how it couldn’t have been accomplished without everyone's help. For little kids, going to the playground to build a sand castle with a group of kids even if they don’t know the other kids personally. For older kids they can create projects with their friends that have more purpose. They can work together to clean up a beach or park. My 8 year old son and a bunch of his schoolmates made posters to boycott McDonalds because he and his friends thought the food was unhealthy. I am going to go off on a bit of a tangent. In our household this “protest” also led to a discussion relating to poverty. I personally don’t eat at McDonalds but there are millions of people that do and one of those reasons is our society puts a premium price on healthy food. McDonalds provides a warm tasty affordable meal. This shined a new light on his protest.
Persistence: Your child is frustrated because she or he is not getting the results they want. The project they are working on is not drawing interest from their friends. Yes, they can give up or they can strategize new ways to get friends motivated. What an incredible skill! Figuring out how to communicate or motivate others to help with a project. My 14 year old faced this obstacle in class recently. As an 8th grader he had to motivate his team of 6th and 7th graders to write and produce a play. He was constantly frustrated. He complained a lot. He ended up doing more work than he should’ve. But he also had to learn how to think outside of his box to get others motivated. Persistence is a personal skill that teaches patience and flexibility. It allows for mistakes and making fine adjustments to get something right. MLK persisted and was constantly agile and open to finding a solution to his problem.
And I cannot conclude without talking about love, faith, hope and belief. As a human being we are more than the sum of our skills we are connected by love. Which is powerful and at the same time fragile. Love of self allows us to propel forward as our authentic self. Love for others moves us to work for humanity and common good. Faith is the conjoined twin of hope. Hope is our deep desire for something we believe in to manifest. Faith is the inner confidence to keep us moving in the direction of hope and deep desire. Belief is something we personally hold as true. MLK held love as a powerful force that can conquer hate. His faith in non-violence propelled him forward to continue his deep belief in love and racial justice. His hope was the fire that fed his faith. He held these beliefs as true. So true that he was willing to be harmed or even give his life for the greater good.
I hope you enjoyed listening and have a few tools to talk to your kids and friends about being anit-racist.
Peace and Bliss~ings until the next show!
Resources for MLK:
Books: “Why We Can’t Wait”, By Martin Luther King Jr
“Letters from the Birmingham Jail”, By Martin Luther King Jr
“Where Do we Go from Here: Chaos or Community”, By Martin Luther King
Books for young kids: Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop Book by Alice Faye Duncan
A Sweet Smell of Roses, Book by Angela Johnson.
March by John Lewis, a graphic novel trilogy
Movies: Selma, Ana de Vernay
King of the Wilderness, Peter Kunhardt