I
know in my case, my duties as a reporter-type person for suburban newspapers
will have me in Gary, Ind., on this day to cover that Hoosier city’s efforts to
pay tribute to the man who has already been gone from this earth (48 years) longer than he was alive (only 39 when shot to death in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968).
BUT
WE IN Chicago got to see the official celebration on Friday. Or should I say
celebrations?
Because
there were those activist types who decided to boycott the city’s official
tribute because Mayor Rahm Emanuel would have been part of it. And in light of
the contempt they feel for him due to police handling of cases involving the
slaying of black men by police officers, they don’t want to do anything that would
even remotely dignify him.
Some
of them actually took part in their own celebration on Friday – one put
together in part by the Chicago Teachers Union leadership.
Those
people, of course, are the ones frustrated by the political hardball being
played by the mayor toward negotiating a new contract – and one that could result
in layoffs in coming weeks.
SO
ON THIS day in which we’re supposed to pay tribute to the memory of Dr. King
and the concept of equal rights for all people regardless of race, it seems we’re
more interested in seeing who can take the biggest pot shot at Rahm Emanuel.
I’m
sure some will argue that Dr. King would have been at the forefront of the
Black Lives Matter movement if he were still alive today – and competent at age
86, which is what he would be now.
But
seeing the concept of a King Day holiday being turned into an excuse for petty
politicking is something I find shameful – and not just by those who are boycotting
the event because they don’t want to make Emanuel look good.
 |
| This year's King Day more about Emanuel |
I
have no doubt in my mind that Emanuel was counting on being able to stand aside
all those black leaders and activists who have been bashing him because of the
lack of prompt prosecution over the death of Laquan McDonald and other young
black men in recent years.
HE
WANTED THAT moment of glory being in King’s shadow and was more than willing to
use the holiday to score cheap political points for himself.
I’m
sure he would have even tried stumbling through the song “Lift Ev’ry Voice and
Sing,” hoping he didn’t sound too ridiculous and off-key in singing the song
most commonly referred to these days as the black American national anthem.”
In
fact, that song is actually one of the informal keys I use to determine the legitimacy
of any particular King Day celebration. The better and more sincere the
performance, the more legitimate and sincere is the group about paying tribute
to King’s memory.
And
as for those celebrations that don’t even bother including it, well they’re
most likely just a batch of civil rights pretenders – they want credit for
favoring the concept, but often don’t truly get it.
OR
MAYBE THEY’RE just like one editor I had back in the days when I worked at the
now-defunct City News Bureau who, when I asked for the proper name of the song,
claimed to have never heard of any “black national anthem” and doubted there
even was such a song.
Which
I had heard just an hour before being performed by inmates at Cook County Jail
who were led in it by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
All
of this has me curious to know how great a rendition I’ll hear Monday in Gary,
Ind. I think I made a mistake of looking up the song for video snippets on You Tube.
Because
after seeing the great Aretha Franklin perform it, anyone else is going to
sound downright lame by comparison.
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