Where Are Today's New Leaders? They Are Waiting For You--

 

Today, many Americans bemoan the lack of political and moral leadership. We have become cynical, such that when aspiring leaders do step up, we treat it like celebrity gossip and fixate on their sex lives, their money, and other scandals. We do that because we are addicted to it,  conditioned to think that way by our Tabloid culture.

What did it mean to take leadership responsibility for a movement to defend human rights back in the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, or today for that matter?

Martin Luther King was 28 years old when he was chosen to head the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the main body coordinating the activism of those fighting Jim Crow. There were other organizations such as NAACP, a few years later SNCC, and the various Democratic and Organized Labor groups. SCLC was the most significant because of the historic role of the Black Churches, and they elected a young minister to lead it though he never wanted it. 

Within a period of nine years, the following happened--

He was stabbed and almost died twice, from the wound itself and then pneumonia.

He was targeted by a firebomb attack on his home which narrowly missed killing his wife, daughter, and an associate. 

He was blackmailed by the head of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover with a sex tape audio which he was told would be sent to his wife and destroy his marriage unless he killed himself. 

He was jailed for inciting riots in Birmingham for weeks (peaceful protests) despite not even being there when they began.

He was assaulted by a violent White Supremacist mob in the Northern City of Chicago which bloodied his head with debris thrown at him, narrowly escaping with his life. 

And these were only a few of the incidents involving him and his allies. The death threats were constant. Despite the years long pattern of physical attacks and threats, local Sheriff's acted to deny him an armed security guard. 

And of course he was assassinated in April of 1968. Despite all of this, King never wavered from his philosophy of non-violence and civil disobedience, on the model of Gandhi in India, and the early Christian followers of the young Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth. 

And we ask ourselves "where are our leaders today"? And I ask, where is the movement which will march with him or her and protect them when they do present themselves? You have seen the documentaries of MLK's speeches and his marches. Who wants to think about the hard work, stress, and danger which came in between? 

Recognize that the potential leaders you are looking for are staring at you in the mirror. But you step back because you know what having leadership responsibility means. It means placing yourself in harms way, along with the people you are leading. Who wants that? 

Martin Luther King did not want that either, but when he was chosen he "drank from the Cup". 

We are still waiting for the American people to stand up, and give these leaders what they need to step forward and build a movement.

The Bus has arrived. It only waits for people to get on board.