Friday, January 21, 2011

Another MLK Holiday Is Safely Past

By Gary Kohls
January 21, 2011

“Now That He Is Safely Dead” is the poignant poem that was written by black poet/musician Carl Wendell Hines soon after Malcolm X’s assassination in 1965.

Read on.

2 comments:

J. Tyler Ballance said...

MiLK day is a farce. Had King lived, he would have been recognized as just another racial extortionist, like his surviving disciples, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

"...legacy of nonviolent struggle for black liberation, freedom, equality, economic justice and the pursuit of happiness for all."

King was all about lining his own pockets by shaking down politicians and corporate leaders, by threatening boycotts and implying that riots might occur in targeted properties.

Rather than attributing a bunch of nonsense to King, it would be better to learn from his actions; such as how a shake-down artist manipulated so many among our corporate and political leadership, so that they are not made fools of again.

If you want to find a hero for civil rights, my choice is always Dr. James Farmer: http://jamesfarmer.umwblogs.org

Dr. Farmer really lived the lessons that are mistakenly associated with the King legend, and he also is credited with teaching King all that he knew about "non-violence and peaceful resistance."

Having read Malcolm X's bio, and a few other biographical reports on his life, I think that Malcolm's transformation from a tool of Elijah Muhammad's to a thoughtful philosopher and activist, who focused on genuine improvements in the behavior of Black Men in America, should place him above King, and behind Farmer, in the history of the American Negro, and those who have made a real, and lasting, difference to the "African-American" community.

G. said...

>"'Now That He Is Safely Dead' is the poignant poem that was written by black poet/musician Carl Wendell Hines soon after Malcolm X’s assassination in 1965."

No. It was written after Martin Luther King Jr's assassination (MLK was assassinated in 1968). The poem was written in 1971.