I am moved whenever I hear that voice, but I have to admit that I hear it in January more than any other month. And I share some of the blame with the media at large for this, because it's the first month of the year when I go through some of his classic speeches in order to use pieces of them for my annual MLK-related radio show.
But what an amazing man and catalyst for change MLK was. I think of a scene from the segregated south in the '50s and '60s, where a rock'n'roll package tour brought Chuck Berry and others to a whites-only restaurant. Either a waiter or the manager told Berry, "We don't serve n*****s here." "That's all right," Berry answered. "I don't eat 'em."
Compare that to a verbal interchange from Howard Zinn's autobiography, reflecting how the tide was turning, thanks to so many who, like MLK, worked to level the playing field: Woman to a law officer: "Get that n***** out of here--he's sitting at the front of the bus!" Police officer: "Ma'am...don't you read the papers?"
I was really proud over the weekend of the folks who do shows on KAOS radio. The world music program "Spin the Globe" mixed a King speech with African drumming and it sounded tremendous; same for "Chantdown Babylon," which paired reggae and a powerful 1967 King speech against the Vietnam war.
One more plug: Fred Kellogg's "Free Jazz with Fred" will have an MLK special on Thursday, Feb. 3, from 9 to 11pm (Pacific time/U.S.). It's a terrific show anyway, but this edition promises to be extra special. Get the audio stream from the KAOS website:
www.kaosradio.org
Thank you, Dr. King.