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The press release pointed to Kennedy's commitment to
- Social Reforms
- Economic Reforms
- Humanitarian Reforms
Defender Of "The Least Of These"
When Senator Kennedy died a few years ago I recorded all of the video and radio references to people who paid tribute to him as they used the words "The Least Of These".
Without question the road to the development of an equal and just society for America was as critical to those who were stepped upon as was its very founding. In as much as they were not seen as "equal citizens" on the "4th of July" for several centuries it is understandable why many value the works of Senator Ted Kennedy.
I value the efforts to make the government enforce the law without regard to color, gender or class. In as much as a portion of Senator Kennedy's legacy was directed toward this end I respect his works.
Failure To Develop A Framework For Competency Development To Create The "UN-Least Of These" In The Future
Take the old adage "Feed a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man how to fish and he eats for a lifetime" and apply it as a filter to Senator Kennedy and others who think like him. With the glare removed from the appreciation of how they 'rescued' us, we begin to see some tragic flaws in their theories.
I personally believe that Senator Kennedy had a dogma that merely needed a face who resided at the "bottom of the societal totem pole" to plug into. The Black community fit that bill perfectly at the time per our condition.
If one says" Ted Kennedy loved Black people - look at his concern for us" I would challenge that assertion.
A man who owns a horse and spends countless hours brushing and exercising it indeed loves the creature before him. IF one asks "does this man view the horse as his EQUAL - as evidenced by the love and attention that is paid to the beast?" the answer is obvious.
I choose to enforce a more deliberate question of the motivations of Senator Kennedy and others who think like him - many of them Black: "Has the works of Senator Kennedy gone beyond the attempts at making the SYSTEM treat Black people as EQUAL and demanded that BLACK PEOPLE express their EQUALITY in all that they do"?
Equality is a interlaced transaction. Equality must be bestowed in the treatment by the greater society. It must also be projected by the subject in question.
In my opinion the theories and ideology as expressed by the viewpoints of Senator Ted Kennedy and others who see us as "The Least Of These" has failed miserably in the development of the COMPETENCIES within the Black community - thus allowing us to stand strong. My words are fully in line with other historical greats such as Frederick Douglass, Booker T Washington, Marcus Garvey and Harriet Tubman.
The use of indictments against the system that surrounds us to show the world that it is unfair and unjust means little IF the movement that is created in response directs our actions toward the takeover these institutions - only to find that the new management is no better at delivering the desired results as the old. I suspect that there is an element of usurpation going on in which our grievances are used to advance someone else's agenda.
The Perpetual "Fight Against The Establishment" Does Not Intrinsically Prepare You To Become The Establishment
Ted Kennedy believed that every American had a RIGHT to certain entitlements that afforded them the ability to live up to a certain minimum "standard of living" that our advanced society should be able to offer to everyone within its ranks. In as much as Black people stood to benefit from this universal mandate it was seen as a track that was far favorable to the fate that he had been treated to.
As America's economic standing in the world moves closer toward "room temperature" the various theories that drove and divided us domestically are going to be put to the test. The local power blocks that had previously focused upon distribution of political spoils without a need to concern themselves about organic development are going to be in for a shock.
Gone will be the ability to raise people to a certain living standard while maintaining a "no-fault" set of theories as to their need to be a net producer for the society and the local community.
Sadly as we take a look at many of the school buildings that have been newly renamed after various heroes in OUR past - the results that are being delivered are far too often a distant cry from the high standard of quality that the namesake had operated upon. Sadly the emotional pull of the pride that was to be had in renaming the building and hanging a "portrait upon the wall" did not translate into sound governance of the resource at hand for the benefit of the human resources within.
The fight against the oppressor who in his presence attacked, limiting you from your full potential must also be accompanied by a resistance to those who are more favorable to you as you accept him in, yet he renders your community in a depressed state, unable to fend for yourself when you are all alone.
In both cases you were a FUNCTION of the presence of this outside force. Where are the ORGANIC and INTRINSIC elements of your character?
With all due respect - I would much prefer to see the "King Center For Non-Violent Social Change" focus upon rendering a more EFFECTIVE consciousness strategy to mitigate daily murders of Black people within a 30 mile radius of its compound in Atlanta as proof of its relevance in 2011.
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