January 18, 2021

 Here we are, just two days away from the inauguration of a new president and- of course- Martin Luther King, Jr. day.

Surfing Facebook for a few after I got home today, I noticed a lot of tributes to Dr. King- as well there should be. I read quite a few, I looked at the comments on a couple. And what I saw was a whole bunch of wypipo (as my friend Robin likes to say) getting all bent out of shape and whitesplaining how Dr. King wouldn't support the Black Lives Matter movement, or the modern Democratic party and I'm just over here going "da fuck did I just read?"

I mean, I will grant that what I know of Dr. King and his legacy comes from history classes, history books, and my own reading. That's because he was murdered just over two months before I was born. One could argue (successfully, I'd guess) that much of the history classes and books I was exposed to were incredibly whitewashed versions of King's life. My independent reading, I would say, not so much.

Ya wanna know some of the things I've learned? Well, some 35% of people polled after King was murdered believed he deserved his fate. Let that sink in. Thirty-five percent of people thought it was okay to kill a man because he demanded this nation live up to its promise that everyone was equal.

I learned that another poll, taken a year before his murder, showed him to be one of the most hated men in the United States. Again, for demanding this supposedly great nation live up to its promise.

You say Dr. King wouldn't be on the side of the Black Lives Matter movement? I say you're a moron. Because Dr. King wanted a the nation to be a nation of equality- where it was the norm, and racism, whether individual or institutional, was no longer tolerated- he was murdered. Because he was a "radical," he was murdered. Because he was an "agitator," he was murdered. Because he stood up for the disenfranchised, he was murdered. Because he was a black man who had the nerve to speak out against the injustices he saw around him- particularly the daily injustices perpetrated against Black people every day in the United States, he was murdered.

Because he dared to dream, he was murdered.