This is a revisiting and rereading of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, work and legacy, and another attempt to extract from the enduring relevance of his insight and experiences, lessons by which we can better live our lives, do our work and wage our righteous and relentless struggle for good in the world.
Kwanzaa is a time of celebration, remembrance, reflection and recommitment. It requires these practices throughout the holiday. But the last day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to deep reflection, meditation on the meaning and measure of being African and how this is understood and asserted for good in the world in essential, uplifting and transformative ways.
Each year at Kwanzaa we celebrate the good in and of the world. We celebrate the good of family, community and culture; the good hoped for and harvested, achieved and enjoyed, worked for, witnessed and brought to fruition.
Our waiting for and finally hearing the verdict in the trial of the three murderers of Ahmaud Arbery, like that with George Floyd, compelled us to ride a roller coaster of mixed emotions, from relief and rejoicing to reflection and recommitment, and always, whether evident or just below the surface, a righteous anger and sadness at the evil and injustice committed.
The racial, indeed racist character of American justice, how it is conceived, carried out and justified, cannot be sensibly, seriously or honestly denied. We, as a people have lived with and resisted this kind of justice, in reality injustice, for centuries.