Disobey

“We have a moral obligation to disobey unjust laws because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as cooperation with good.”        +Martin L. King

This month, in the still wet dawning of a nu year; a time when we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and successively the lives of other Black luminaries on the historical continuum, let us remember, or discover the true purpose for which they stood. The why that generated the brightness of their light.

An architect surveys a foundation on two occasions: when there is known or suspected damage and when it’s time for expansion.  As a nation, as a people, we’ve spent much time inspecting cracks for quite some time while singing We Shall Overcome. Perhaps we’d do better to embark on a strategic plan beyond rhetoric to repair the cracks in our foundation with intention as we prepare to expand on this historical timeline in a manner that will render our generations to come a greater reason to celebrate.

Can we hear all of Martin King’s words to a people formerly known as Negroes? Have we evolved to a place where we can define ourselves by ourselves and serve the world accordingly? In the throes of this political fiasco, social unrest, financial instability, and personal challenge, let us do a formal analysis of why we celebrate this man and others who have paved this path for us.

Now, as we halt under the weight of a national unrest capped by a government shutdown, we can either stand like deer in the headlights or reach down into the strength of our Divinely entrusted birthright to become the true architects we were meant to be. The master architects we were before we had our development arrested by inhuman indigence. It is of utmost importance that we hear our ancestors beyond sound bites and quotes.  I’d like to believe that we are willing to accept their words as charges, divine edicts even, and move into action. We are so much more than has been projected on us and infinitely more powerful than we’ve been conditioned to believe.

“Justice too long delayed is justice denied.”   +Martin L. King