Philip Ugbodaga
20 January 2009
opinion
A SHIFT in political power is occurring at a unique juncture in the history of the United States of America.
Earlier in the year the world marked the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. It is not an accident of history that 40 years after the gruesome assassination there emerged another great African-American, Senator Barrack Obama who took the American political institution by storm.
His message of hope and optimism caught the attention of all Americans and indeed the entire world irrespective of race, gender, and religion. He changed the entire political scenario in America being the first among six previous black presidential candidates to command a strong showing in presidential primaries and moving on to become the democratic nominee and the first African-American elected to the office of President of the United States of America.
Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929. Both his father and grand-father were Baptist preachers, who had been previously involved in the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King studied Theology after considering careers in Medicine and Law. He used his theological experience to advance the cause of the American Blacks.
On December 1, 1955, a certain Rosa Parks, who was tired after a hard day's work, refused to give up her seat to a White man. She was arrested and Martin Luther King together with Ralph Abernathy and others led protest marches against bus segregations.
The bus boycott lasted for 361 days. King travelled throughout the country making speeches and inspiring people to become involved in the civil rights movement. In the 1960 American presidential elections, it was the African-American vote that gave John F. Kennedy a narrow victory.
In the course of his civil rights activism, King was arrested; his home bombed, and was subjected to personal abuse and severally humiliated. While in jail, he wrote the famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, which became a manifesto of the Black revolution in America. Amid American's history of racial intolerance, King's adherence to non-violence struck a still-point of respect throughout the world. This was despite the fact that Blacks could not vote or sit on juries or take part in enforcing the law, attend the same schools as White people, eat in the same restaurants, travel on the same cars, live in the same neighbourhoods, or shop in the same places.
Martin Luther King always stressed the importance of the ballot and argued that once all African-Americans had the vote they would become an important political force. In March 1965 he organised a protest from Selma to the State Capitol Building in Montgomery, Alabama to press for a federal voting-rights law. This law was passed by a large majority in the House of Representatives (333 to 48) and the Senate (77 to 19).
In 1968, there were concerted efforts urging King to run as a presidential candidate, an idea that was rejected by King. Rather he joined forces with William Pepper to form a political platform, the National Conference for New Politics (NCNP) from where he planned to move into mainstream politics and possibly run for President of America at a future date. Kings emerging political relevance created a great deal of concern to the ruling elite who had held down the political progress of the Blacks for centuries.
King's speeches and actions created the political fillip for Barack Obama to launch his political voyage. In his speeches during the Vietnam War, King argued that the money being spent on the war was making it more difficult for then American President, Lyndon Johnson, to fulfil the promises he made about improving Americans' welfare system.
This is very much similar to Obama's position on the Iraqi war. At the end of a meeting organised by Martin Luther King on December 5, 1965 during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, there was a fund-raising and Blacks dropped in $5 bills and $10 bills which reminds one of the decision of Obama to reject federal funding of his campaign but rather relied on ordinary Americans who gave very actively. Both Martin Luther King and Barack Obama have displayed a very high level of bi-partisanship in his approach to political issues much like King who severally saw other races as partners in his struggles with some Whites eventually playing prominent roles in the African-American struggle.
On the night of April 3, 1968, King gave a speech that ended with the following words: "Well, I don't know what will happen now; we've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountain top. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life - longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy tonight; I'm not worried about anything; I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the Lord."
The following day King was shot and killed as he stood on the balcony of his hotel at Memphis in Tennessee. The glory of the Lord indeed came on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 when Americans of all persuasions trooped out to elect for the first time in their history an African-American as its President. It is now that God will now truly bless the United States of America.
Dr. Ugbodaga, is the immediate past Secretary of the NMA, Edo State.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2009 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
What a silly idea to compare these two people. Both Dr King's father and grandfather were preachers. Obama's father was a drunkard. Dr King raised money to support people. Obama made americans pay $745 mln for his own presidency. Dr King spent his whole life fighting for basic human rights. Obama enjoyed the freedoms that people before him had died for. Dr King had a life of a martyr and was killed for his ideals. Obama is quickly turning into a pop-star.
In all other aspects... well...maybe...