Anniversary March -- A Dream Deferred

Much of the focus of the anniversary Civil Rights March is Nostalgic in nature and focused on Dr. Martin Luther King. Though his "I Have A Dream" speech is what had the most impact that day, he was one of many speakers, just as he was one of many who struggled and sacrificed himself for basic human rights. We must not allow this struggle or the memory of the breadth of it and of what Dr. King stood for to be reduced to one speech or to limit nostalgia for hand-holding amidst the monstrosity this nation has become. We must instead remember and heed his echoing words saying that “We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values…when machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” We are still the number one purveyor of violence in the world, we have an even greater divide between rich and poor as well as the largest prison population in the country resulting from uneven justice that targets brown and black people. Today as the civil rights of all are threatened we must not let the political establishment white wash the struggle while suppressing dissent even at this march we will be left with the hollow Wall Street version of King, the wrong king:

The wrong King
That familiar face adorning January
eyes set wide
on the promised land of justice
seems an impostor
a pretender to the dream,
a one dimensional doppleganger.

Despite the preacher's and politician's
shallow acknowledgments and
the recognizable visage
this is not the King that called his country
"the number one purveyor of violence in the world"
or that called for a guaranteed annual income.
Not the King that talked of the "triple evils
of racism, economic exploitation, and war"
so popular but unmentionable in these times.
No, the face looks right but
the message is all wrong.
They're confusing Martin with Rodney
"Can't we all get along?"