Years ago, young
people used to wear a wristband that said
WWJD, or What Would Jesus Do? Today, we should
have a real or imaginary wristband that says
WWMD, or what would Martin Do? Why? On Dr.
King’s birthday, January 15, liberals and
conservatives invoked the name and memory of
Dr. King. But what would he do today? Would he
support legislators who are taking us to the
brink of a government shutdown with programs
that benefit women, children, and older people
on the chopping block? Would he support
restrictions on a woman’s right to choose?
Would he appreciate the banning of more than
1600 books? Given his love for history, would
Dr. King support state laws that prevent
teaching about race? Given his appreciation
for the beloved community, would Dr. King
support attacks on Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion? The people who tout Dr. King today
must read him to be reminded of his commitment
to justice and economic restructuring.
I claim Dr. King as
an economist. In his Nobel Peace Prize
acceptance speech, he said, “I have the
audacity to believe that people everywhere can
have three meals a day for their bodies,
education, and culture for their minds, peace,
and freedom for their spirits.” In his book,
Where Do We Go From Here, he spoke of economic
restructuring, questioning the very nature of
the capitalist economy and saying, “If the
world is two-thirds water, why do we pay water
bills?
What
must you do to celebrate Dr. King? This
is what Dr. King wrote in Where
Do We Go From Here:
I
choose to identify with the
underprivileged. I choose to identify
with the poor. I choose to give my life
to the hungry. I choose to give my life
to those who have been left out of the
sunlight of opportunity. I choose to
live for and with those who find themselves
seeing life as a long and desolate corridor
with no exit sign. This is the way I’m
going. If it means suffering a little
bit, I’m going that way. If means
sacrificing, I’m going that way. If it
means dying for
them,
I’m going that way because I heard a voice
saying, “Do something for others.”
People will be
invoking Dr. King through January and
February, but he is to be remembered through
his words and our deeds. We can celebrate Dr.
King by doing something for others through
small acts and large ones, through activism
and simple acts of kindness. And, more
impactfully, we can celebrate Dr. King by
considering the intractable nature of poverty
and the things we can do to eliminate it. King
wrote, “the curse of poverty is an abomination
in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind
as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of
civilization, when men ate each other because
they had not yet learned to take food from the
soil, or to consume the abundant animal life
around them.” Those are strong words, totally
appropriate words. We are cannibalizing our
nation’s future with persistent poverty,
especially when so many children are consigned
to poverty.
The day after Dr.
King’s birthday, Congress announced a
bipartisan deal to expand the child tax
credit. About 16 million children in
low-income families will benefit, according to
the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Democrats pushed hard for this, and had to
agree to reviving some of the Trump tax cuts
that had expired, including more tax
deductions for businesses. Senate Finance
Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore) wants to pass this
legislation before the end of this month, but
Congress must first pass a budget to avert a
government shutdown, schedule for January 19.
Conceding
to business tax deduction extracts a high
price, but keeping millions of children
out of poverty may be worth it. Even as
the expansion of the child tax credit is a
victory, it is important to note that it is a
far cry from the economic restructuring that
Dr. King called for. Few who celebrate
King focus on economic restructuring.
Indeed, when King called for restructuring he
lost the support of foundations, government,
and even many in the African American
community. When he died, he’d lost much
esteem. It took nearly 20 years to turn
his birthday into a federal holiday.
What
would Martin do? He’d keep fighting,
keep trying, to restructure the economy and do
something for others. He’d continue his
bold attacks on a predatory capitalist
economic structure. If we celebrate
King, not only
on his birthday, but throughout the year, we
can do no less.
