Basta! Enough! We’ve reached MLK’s, “Mountaintop.” Let him be. Let’s get to work!
Moses had roamed the desert for 40 years with his formerly enslaved people. After descending the mountain with his God-fire-inscribed stones and demolishing the notion of Golden Calf worship, wearily he sat and commanded: “Go! Here I remain. Milk and honey await you on the other side of yon mountain.”
Today, Moses could say only, “Oy vey!” That milk and honey quickly turned sour, and followed his put-upon people through successive millennia, up to this moment. Likewise, through intuition, MLK similarly urged his minions onward, without him, to another mountaintop. We now know that mountaintops are bullshit! There is no milk and honey, and there is no softening of ingrained attitudes. Whatever the problem is, it should be worked out on the spot, within the affected group.
It took hundreds of years for Jews to wander through a hypocritically, “Christian” world of abuse, until they learned to make the desert bloom. Had they concentrated on that, back in the days when they were provided with the agricultural hint of manna, “Holocaust” would be solely a common noun. Had King striven to Improve the, “(un)Equal” part of the, “Separate but…” society in which he lived, lots of heartache and, “nonviolence” would have been avoided.
By being marginalized and ignored, the emancipated were able to follow the example of those already freed but socially rejected darker citizens of the country. The parallel existence that prevailed was similar, but separate. Negroes, in the North or the South, free or enslaved – both ante- and post-bellum -- were treated as though socially they did not exist. This was true with regard to medicine; law; letters; the arts; commerce; journalism; at infinitum. In other words, you were denied a shared existence, so, you created a parallel one. It was all there! Had the amelioration of those conditions been pursued, citizenship would have improved, voting rights would have followed, and eventually the, “Separate but…” automatically would have become all-inclusive. Recrimination would have been lessened, all around.
This may sound all fantastical now, but I betcha, with proper hindsight, both Moses and Martin would agree with me.
We are endowed with a free society (so far), with no social, political or financial strings imposed upon us. Ergo, starting with Oprah, all of you tight-fisted Niggahs who have made it in sports, entertainment, etc., instead of appealing and kneeling and such, why don’t you invest a portion of your considerable fortunes to the, “Bootblack to Bootstrap Corporation” (BBBS). You could recoup a financial and guilty-conscience investment by going into those urban hell holes and cleaning up the fratricide, improving the schools and setting up special training for subsequent in-place businesses. This could be done by using the full weight of your popularity and charisma with the residents and acquired business entrepreneurs, as well.
Ya hear that, Oprah? We don’t need you in the White House. That’s merely another useless mountaintop. We need you to head the BBBS Corp. – (sans the other B.S.). Just think: What a point of pride for all involved!
***** ***** *****
Of John, Martin, Bobby we sing.
Sentiment has a certain ring.
Practically, though, we should
Clean out the goddamed ‘hood!
Comments