Under the baobab: On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, reflect on where we’ve been, what’s next
Happy New Year. We have come through another one. Congratulations to Coach Franklin and the Rose Bowl winning, 11-2, top ten, Penn State football team. We particularly celebrate MVP Sean Clifford for crowning his PSU career by quarterbacking a tremendous game. We all hope he is as successful at the next level. Nick Singleton, Kalen King, Ji’Ayir Brown, KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Mitchell Tinsley, and Demeioun “Chop” Robinson among others also had great games.
The 11-5 Lady Lions basketball team began the year led by Makenna Marisa and Leilani Kapinaus continuing their winning ways under Coach Kieger. They led Purdue from beginning to end in their 70-60 romp at the Bryce Jordan Center. We believe the Lady lions are NCAA tournament bound.
Next, Jan. 15th is Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday. The Forum on Black Affairs will be having its annual celebratory dinner at BJC. The borough’s Martin Luther King Plaza Committee directed by Gary Abdullah and managed by Kevin Kassab will be holding commemorations in the plaza.
I use MLK Day to measure how we seem to be progressing in civil rights and diversity and how MLK might see it. Unless you are in your 50s you weren’t alive when MLK was assassinated in April of 1968. At the time, the United States had hundreds of thousands of troops deployed in Vietnam. It was few weeks after the Tet offensive, a critical moment in world history. Today there are no U.S. troops engaged in active combat anywhere in the world. King would be pleased.
In 1968 avowed white supremacist George Wallace ran for President of the United States, won the electoral vote in five states and nearly 14% of the national popular vote. Richard Nixon won the presidency against Vice President Hubert Humphrey after Robert Kennedy was gunned down and the Democratic Party imploded at its Chicago Convention. In our time Barack Obama was elected for two terms as President of the United States. Today Kamala Harris serves as Vice President.
In 1968 there were 12 African Americans in the U.S. Congress. Today there are 55 members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was recently elected head of the House Democratic Caucus and came within five votes of being selected Speaker of the House. No Black women had been elected to Congress until Shirley Chisholm in 1968.
Thurgood Marshall became the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967. There were no women on the court. Today two African Americans, a Puerto Rican and four women serve on the Supreme Court.
The major trouble spots in the world were the conflict in Vietnam, the “troubles” in Northern Ireland, apartheid in South Africa, and Israel/Palestine conflict. Today Vietnam is a unified independent country, the troubles in Ireland have resolved, and Cyril Ramposa serves as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa.
Locally no person of color had ever been elected to any town, borough or school board post. Today many African American, Asian and Hispanic folks serve in local elected office. Neeli Bendapudi is the first Asian-American and the first woman to serve as president of Penn State University. Michael Wade Smith is her chief of staff and senior vice president. Other diverse Penn State appointments include Clarence Lang as the first African American to serve as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Steve Carpenter as the Dean of the College of Arts and Architecture. Ron Darbeau is the Chancellor of PSU Altoona Campus. Levon Esters will be the next Dean of the Graduate School.
MLK would tell us we have much to do. The Voting Rights Act has been gutted, Roe vs. Wade was overturned, and our climate is going to hell in a hand basket. Let’s roll up our sleeves sisters and brothers.