Last weekend, Martin Luther King, Jr weekend of 2023, I participated in a couple of events. The events, my reading, and discussions, gave me lots to think about.

The first event was an “Inspirational Breakfast” sponsored by our local YMCA. It was focused primarily on King’s statements about community service and loving your neighbor. The “Y” has excellent youth leadership programs, and they had a racially diverse panel of young people that spoke eloquently about the benefits of those programs. They did a great job. But it was all very comfortable and positive. The attendees were mostly white business people and there was nary a mention of racism and injustice. I came away feeling so positive, and no, that’s not a bad thing.

The second event was sponsored by the nearby City of Lynnwood. It was part of “A Day On Instead of A Day Off” program to encourage community service in memory of Dr. King. We spent the morning in a local park cleaning it up, removing invasive species, spreading bark.

But at the end of the weekend I felt like Dr. King’s legacy had been taken over by the powerful white establishment, sanitized, cleaned up, and made to be a singular positive message about community service. Yes, that was certainly part of King’s message, but only part. We had pulled out the roots of invasive blackberries in the park, but what about the even deeper roots of systemic racism still flourishing in our country? When are we going to work on those?

I was sharing this observation with a friend who then sent me this NPR story about a newspaper that ran a heavily redacted version of King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. The newspaper was criticized for “whitewashing” King’s legacy when they omitted parts of the speech linking systemic racism and poverty. King’s daughter, Bernice King, commented:

“My father’s ‘dream’ wasn’t palpable to the white masses, including politicians.”  “He challenged militarism and sought to eradicate it. He worked to end poverty, as caused by extreme capitalism and materialism. We need to know the authentic King…The Inconvenient King.”

So here is my learning and challenge from this year’s Martin Luther King holiday. I need to hold both of King’s messages, community service and ending racism, at the same time. I cannot enjoy the more comfortable community service ideal at the expense of the more challenging, and convicting demands to end systemic racism, white supremacy, and injustice throughout our land. Next year, my challenge to myself is to find activities that lift up both these ideals and put them both into action.

Will you join me?

God bless,
Coe