Leading Way Along Trail King Blazed

Every year at about this time, some historian drives me absolutely crazy with his or her attempt to engage in acts of revisionism aimed at recreating the life of Martin Luther King Jr.Conservatives have been the worst. They have grossly misappropriated King’s words in an attempt to suggest that, had he lived, the civil rights leader would have been an outspoken critic of affirmative action and other social programs.They focus solely on his “I Have a Dream” speech, ignoring his outspoken rhetoric against the Vietnam War during the last years of his life and his active protest against class and gender inequities.On Monday, hundreds of New Yorkers and dozens of political leaders will crowd into Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem to participate in the Reverend Al Sharpton’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. forum.The gathering has become a destination for political leaders and community residents who wish to commemorate King’s legacy.And that makes sense.Regardless of whether you like him, Rev. Sharpton has emerged as one of the nation’s more important African-American leaders. He did not self anoint himself to the post, as some might argue. Most seem to forget that Rev. Sharpton is a product of the civil rights movement. Long before he became a prominent national leader and presidential candidate, the 51-year-old activist was rallying on the front lines against racial bigotry in New York City.The movement that produced Rev. Sharpton is the same that produced the Reverend Jesse Jackson and King. Yet white political pundits who routinely laud King as a hero and visionary chastise Revs. Sharpton and Jackson as being too radical and extreme.The truth is that King was a radical and a revolutionary who exposed the viciousness of racism and white supremacy in this country to the entire world. When Rev. Sharpton marched against the racial beatings in Howard Beach last summer, he was following in the very best tradition of King.It makes sense, then, that Mayor Bloomberg, Senator Clinton, and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer would show up to Rev. Sharpton’s annual King Day forum. Their presence at the event has less to do with Rev. Sharpton than with their decision to honor the sacrifices made in the long-term civil rights struggle that produced foot soldiers, like Rev. Sharpton, who put their lives on the line to beat back the mean forces of individual and institutionalized racism.At least once a year, any political leader who wants the support of the city’s black community has to stand before a crowd of African Americans at Rev. Sharpton’s King forum and explain why they ought to be elected to office. Last year all the mayoral candidates appeared. King fought for African Americans to have access to the ballot box, and Rev. Sharpton is now making sure this voting bloc is not easily taken for granted.“This is not a day for shopping for King Day sales,” Rev. Sharpton told me. “We created this day so that those in power would have to be accountable to us by addressing issues of war, poverty, and race. On this day they come before the people.”After my column last week on Rev. Jackson, a reader chastised me for praising Rev. Jackson’s historic run for president, which brought millions of new African Americans into the electoral process.“We don’t need the Jesse Jacksons and the Al Sharptons of the world,” the man wrote. “We need leaders who have the background and represent more of what Martin Luther King was about.”But Revs. Jackson and Sharpton are like King. They all come from the same religious, cultural, and political experience. In the 1960s, King nurtured a young activist from Greenville, S.C., whose name was Jesse Louis Jackson. He, in turn, would serve as a mentor and teacher to a youngster from New York named Al Sharpton. Rev. Sharpton would later go on to work for Rev. Jackson, all the while learning some of the strategies and tactics King passed along to Rev. Jackson.King was criticized by African Americans and whites. His financial records were scrutinized and his phone was tapped by the FBI. Threats were made against his life and the press relentlessly scoured through his personal affairs in an effort to secure information that could embarrass him.Revs. Jackson and Sharpton have experienced similar situations. Sadly, that’s the cost of being a black leader in this country.

Leading Way Along Trail King Blazed

Leading Way Along Trail King Blazed

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