From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: Re: MLK & U-2 & Disposable Heroes of Hip.
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 08:37:37 GMT

This is in reply to mills_j@mscf.med.upenn.edu, who wrote:
:
[regarding the recent U2 concert]
:      And, then, at one point during the set -- right in the middle of Pride
:(In the name of love), of course -- all the 50 foot high TV screens showed
:a huge picture of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Then we heard a little snippet 
:from his "I Have a Dream" speech (I think, don't remember exactly) and, the
:whole stadium cheered.
:      It struck me kind of strangely.  I wondered if all of these people
:around me really saw MLK as a hero, if they really felt it personally, in
:their souls, or whether it was just some sort of PC thing.
:      I wish I could have felt more moved by the whole thing, but I didn't.
:As I was being publicly educated in this country I was always taught that
:MLK _was_ a hero (I was taught this, BTW, both in inner city predominantly
:black schools as well as suburban and semi-rural predominantly white ones).
:I was taught that he was a hero, and I felt it myself.

My education about Brother Martin was self-directed, after I'd graduated
from college.  David Garrow's biography (_Bearing the Cross_) had just
come out, beginning a series of what they call "seminal books" on those
times.  It was followed by Taylor Branch's and Juan Williams's histories
and Ralph Abernathy's autobiography, all of which I read.  A recent
addition is this year's _Voice of Deliverance_ by Keith Miller, about
King's rhetoric.

Nick Lemann's _The Promised Land_ and Alex Kotlowitz's _There Are No
Children Here_ also spend a fair amount of time meditating on the results
of the civil rights movement, even tho' their focus is upon the 
emergence, and grim reality, of urban poverty in the housing projects.

So from my point of view, King and the movement are inseparable.  But
I have the advantage of entering this mostly with a clean slate (I don't
seem to remember learning any of this stuff before the age of 22) and
with a strong personal desire to learn history and learn from it.

Most people *seem* to have no such desires.  This has been remarked on
in this newsgroup most recently in the discussion about all the black
folks wearing X paraphrenelia without (according to our inquiring
minds who had the guts to ask) really caring to know much about
Malcolm.

My hope is that the stories of Martin, Malcolm, the movement, and other
vital histories (black church, f'rinstance) can be re-told to each
generation in a way that challenges them to "live your life for a 
change," as the Jesus People say.  In that pursuit, I'm sorry to
say, I don't see much of a role for U2 and the rest of the 
entertainment industry, unless they bring these stories right to 
the fore and say, "This is why we are here today for this concert/
film/performance," rather than flash an image or two, sing a few
lyrics over blaring guitar, and call it socially responsible.

Spike Lee is attempting to do just that with his next movie, which
is why *I* may skip work Nov. 20 to attend.  Just my thoughts ...



-- 
Mr. Aaron Barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us -- posting from Evanston, Illinois
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african.american