Recently I found myself thinking, maybe the pun is intended but anyway I was remembering some of my old teachers and mentors. I was thinking about how back then we knew where the communications intersections were in our communities. There used to a saying, if you want to spread something throughout the hoods, tell it on 125th St. ( think about who has their headquarters and business on 125th St now?" This why you had so many people coming to speak on 125th St back in the day. I grew up in Bed-Stuy so for Brooklyn it was Nostrand Ave and Fulton St. Remember Birddells Record Store, Remember the the pool hall upstairs on Nostrand? Rmember the Black Book Store on Nostrand near Fulton? These streets were like "the talking drums of our ancestors" Recently the 50th Anniversary of the "March on Washington" was celebrated. I am so glad the statue of Dr. King is not smiling and he has his hands folded which signifies defensiveness. Here is what is not spoken about, the original March was not called by the leaders. it was an idea that went out over the talking drums. Black people were fed up with white supremacy and decided we are going to Washington to protest. Now imagine for a minute, fed up black people from all over the country saying we are Marching to Washington, DC to protest. No disrespect intended to any of the leaders that were there. The pageantry was orchestrated so there would be some kind of order and direction. This is some frightening imagery to think about. If you love Dr, King and as I got older and began to understand the sacrifices he knew he was going to make for that speech, I have learned to love him even more. Remember, he was among the people when he traveled, no limos, no first class flights, no 5 star hotels, no fancy restaurants, he came from that, but his undying love for black people, made him turn his back on all of that for us.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 06:21:03 +0000
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