He arrived in town, attempting to calm the populace uninterested in hearing what he had to say. A recent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, he entered into a situation that had horribly gone out of control. As he spoke, he heard the hecklers mock him at every turn, insisting his way had failed and it was time for a new approach, which they shouted over his appeals. Instead of heeding the speaker’s advice, the audience failed to heed his cries, leaving his trip a wasted one.

No, it was not President Obama facing the wrath of the Tea Party crowd; it was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in Watts after the ‘riots’ of 1965. It was during a routine traffic stop from LAPD officers of two Negroes, which caused the emotions of a community mistreated by law enforcement, to emerge in a wave of fiery resistance. Dr. King was called in to speak with the protesters, but to no avail.

I have the L.A. Times press clippings in which as he began to speak to the crowd assembled to hear him, a voice in the crowd mentioned ‘and they should burn’ which the frustrated citizens did. I would wager nothing Dr. King would have said would have calmed the same people he urged peace for, to considering violent solutions to administer justice. I don’t know his exact mindset, but could you imagine the disappointment in Dr. King’s heart? Not only was he the only sole voice left for Black people – the great Malcolm X met his unfortunate end earlier that year – but to see his own falling on deaf ears but rather turning to vengeful means differing from his stance of non-violence must have weighed heavy on his heart.

I don’t know if this incident was the beginning of the end for Dr. King. I am certain other knowledgeable historians will point out other events as points of reference such as the cry for Black Power, the rise of the Black Panther party, and others. All of this while continuing to maintain unity among Negroes, again, must have caused deep concern for the good doctor. Perhaps it was the growing dissatisfaction with non-violence as a tool for justice; maybe it was the fact Dr. King had mostly worked in the South and had no connect with the angry citizens of Watts, or could it just be – we wanted to go our own way, no matter what. Burn Baby Burn speaks volumes more than offering quotes of peace and righteousness. Whatever the case, when Dr. King was jeered and mocked for promoting sensible calm in the midst of a firestorm, it was as if we had committed murder ourselves – the ideal of harmony he envisioned while confronting his doubters.

We never discuss among ourselves the last three years of Dr. King’s life, shortly after he received the Peace Prize, a reward from the international community that honors the proper cause to individuals of what it’s named for. It would seem that adhering to the standards of the Prize itself, gaining major victories on the Civil Rights front would be enough, that Dr. King’s grand vision would be supported and respected. Not so. As we have found out, the honor created more enemies than it did supporters.

Every generation is seeking, searching for a leader of the past. We need a voice outside of the mainstream to guide us to better pastures, showing us the way to the mountaintop. In the past forty years, we’ve had promising leaders yet we’ve also had those looking out for themselves and not the people. In short, it was all about them, not the souls they proclaimed to be fighting for. In this 21st Century, we let corporate media decide who our leaders are and what they stand for. I do wonder as Dr. King had to face in Watts, whether or not their effectiveness will last for a season or for a lifetime. We’ll have to see.

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