Does MLK Day Still Matter In Kansas City?!?

Quick answer: Of course the legacy of MLK remains relevant but not for reasons that readers might think.

Our contention . . .

LIKE IT OR NOT AMERICANS ARE QUICKLY FORGETTING THE "CIVIL RIGHTS ERA" AND, FOR MANY BUT NOT ALL, THE LEGACY OF MLK FADES AS PART OF THE DISCOURSE!!!

But let's not delve too far into history or philosophy . . . Instead, take a peek at the practical application of this contention in recent KCMO elections by way of a question:

WHICH GROUP EXERTED MORE INFLUENCE IN A RECENT LOCAL VOTE: BLACK CLERGY OR KC TENANTS!?!?

The answer should be obvious even after pathetically low turnout from throughout KCMO. 

None of this to say that clergy in the African-American community is inconsequential but the flock has prospered and moved to Grandview, Raytown, Lee's Summit and the old 3rd District churches are no longer the focal point of social justice movements. In fact, now they look more like senior citizen centers. 

And of course, no mention of MLK Day in KC is complete without mentioning the embarrassing fight over a BLVD in his honor that only served to embarrass just about EVERYONE who took an active role in the cringe-y debate that did nothing but WORSEN community relations in the metro.

Here's a more hilarious example that, we believe, speaks to the social media era . . . 

Let's also not forget a couple of years ago when a South Side preacher earned global acclaim for castigating his followers who didn't buy him a luxury watch.

Sure, the locale of the church was Longview Road but most attendees commuted from nicer neighborhoods in respectable cars and that's what inspired the rant in the first place . . . Moreover, all of this not-so-long-ago hot mess exemplifies a great deal of "distance" from what most of us perceive as the MLK legacy of faith communities working selflessly for social justice.

Nevertheless . . .

When this blog first started out we would mark the holiday and so many trolls would attempt to disparage the memory of Dr. King and miss the bigger picture. 

Here's one last bit of context . . . 

AS THE FIGHT OVER DEI INTENSIFIES, IT'S NOW CONSERVATIVES WHO CLING TO THE MEMORY OF MLK FAR MORE THAN POLITICAL OPPONENTS WHO ARE NEITHER COMMITTED TO NONVIOLENCE NOR FAITH-BASED ACTIVISM!!!

Proof of this axiom . . . It's doubtful that MLK and/or anyone who REALLY understands his legacy would've shouted "NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!!!" with a rowdy mob in the middle of a riot.

Finally, as war rages across the Holy Land and Eastern Europe and the White House recently moved to escalate attacks against faraway terrorist rebels . . . It's tempting to forget the global commitment to nonviolence that defined the Civil Rights struggle and the 60s-era leader who risked everything in order to speak out against the Vietnam War at a time when the public was yet to discover that the brutal conflict was ultimately pointless and only served to exacerbate the U.S. reputation for atrocities and a complete lack of any viable exit strategy for military conflict.

And so . . . 

Of course our www.TonysKansasCity.com blog community respects the work of MLK and admires his accomplishments even if it's undeniable that context and clarity over his role in American history is now in jeopardy of being forgotten or, worse, rewritten.

You decide . . .