Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 1-24-20

Feature
How Would Dr. King Feel About The Progress Of Black People In 2020?
Here is what some residents thought
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
The nation celebrated the birthday of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 20, 2020.
Several individuals and organizations have already started their observances to honor the life of the fallen civil rights leader, and others will have events throughout the month in his honor.
Also, there are those who put forth the effort to live the Dream he talked about more than 50 years ago. It is still relevant.
“Dr. King would have very mixed feelings about where we are today. He would be proud to see that we’ve elected and re-elected our first Black President. He
ATTY. ED NARAIN
would also be proud of the many significant contribu- tions and accomplishments made by Black people in all aspects of society.
“But, I also believe he’d be heart-broken about the lack of inclusion on corpo- rate boards, our overrepre- sentation in poverty statistics, the inequities in Black school district funding and the mass incarceration crisis.
“In Hillsborough County, we still have a lot of work to do in these areas. Nonethe- less, his unwavering faith in
God would lead him to be- lieve that change is just around the corner.”
ATTY. SEAN SHAW
“I think Dr. King would he pleased with our progress on some fronts, but disap- pointed on other fronts. Of course, the election of Pres- ident Obama would show progress; but the subse- quent election of President Trump reveals that America has not advanced as far as he would have liked. I firmly believe that our lack of progress with regards to is- sues of poverty and wealth inequality would shock Dr. King. In many ways, we are worse off now than during his time.”
BELINTHIA BERRY
“Martin Luther King would feel we’ve come a long way, but there’s still room for growth in all areas of this world, in how we do business, work, play and live. The fight must con- tinue so his legacy can live on. Our future depends on it.”
“He would have been pretty proud of us and hope- ful back in 2008 when Barack Obama became the first Black President of the United States. This was a great stride toward the ful- fillment of that King Dream. Here was a man who embod- ied within himself the union of the two races so histori- cally at odds in this society, a
man with a strong family that embraced the sem- blance of the Dream living as the First Family of this na- tion. No one actually saw this coming as soon as it did.
“This society had come a long way even for this to hap- pen. We had eight years to unite with one another, bridge so many gaps, build on this foundation. But what did we do with this great op- portunity? We let it slip through our grasp and now the nation is divided and at odds with one another prob- ably as never before since the Civil War.
“Individually, we Black people of the middle class have come a long way in tak- ing advantage of opportuni- ties of education, economic and political advancement; but as a whole, it doesn’t mean much. The poor has gotten poorer. The haters are still out there as always, and we must be ready to deal with them. Yet, some of us are still working on this dream in our own way, and who knows, but that we may find our way there sooner than we think, like in 2008?
“It really is hard to assess, but something is going on, the Dream is still alive! Dr. King would see some progress here and there, but he would certainly want to see us more united: the World House, the Beloved Community, worldwide. In- stead, the world is becoming unglued under the miss- leadership of a self-seeking President.”
DR. MOZELLA G. MITCHELL ...Preaching the
Gospel 50 Years
PAGE 2-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020