A SAMURAI OF LOVE
Generally speaking, the Way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death.-Miyamoto Musashi
"If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive."-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
We have the holiday. We have the images. We have the speeches. But we still can't see him. Armchair black revolutionaries have called him a coward. Some have gone so far as to suggest that he was a C.I.A. agent. There are urban legends of him being in the Boule'(a high brow elite black society of the middle class) He has been derided for his humanity, and ridiculed from his moral convictions. There have been countless books written about him. He is presented as a pastuerized saint for imperialism, a sentimental and anemic minister with an aversion to violence. He has been shamelessly co-opted by the status quo and returned to history as a christian eunuch. Perhaps this is the reason that many were shocked at Dr. Michael Eric Dyson's attempts to "humanize" him in his book: I May Not Get There With Your (The True Martin Luther King) While the book may go a little more in depth with than many are comfortable with, Dr. Dyson's book reveals a man whose political philosophy is not simply aligned with Democratic Party politics. Dyson proposed, and I agree, that King was in fact, a Democratic Socialist. His vision of a radical redistribution of wealth and power seem to imply a kinship with people like Bernie Sanders. However, if we examine King, we would discover that it's not so easy to place him in any box. King once stated that: “Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both.” This suggests a King that was beyond the narrow descriptions of cold war propaganda.
The term Samurai is not a term that many would associate with Dr. King. His turn the other cheek philosophy and christian ethics of brotherhood seem somewhat incredulous to a violent society of honor and service, punctuated by bloody sword duels and ritual suicide. But if one examines the code of Bushido and King's code, there is virtually no difference. While many are carried away on romanticized notions of the samurai, they fail to understand that all the violence and martial prowess has a noble premise: service. In fact, the code has a spiritual component simply called Zen. The component is in fact, the Asian equivalent of christian principles. Like the samurai, King's dedication to humanity was total. And like the samurai, King's path required a resolute acceptance of death. King was a man who suffered from constant random hiccups, and drank nearly a pint of liquor to cure a severe case of insomnia, brought on by post traumatic stress disorder of constant death threats. While his detractors decried him as an Uncle Tom from the safe, high lofts of their militant philosophies, King was in the valley of the shadow of death being beaten, jailed, bombed and stabbed. They launched scathing attacks of his christian based non-violent ethics from the security of their heated, over-packed, overpriced, financially depressed ghettos, even as he was fighting for their humanity. He exemplified the code of the samurai as he never uttered a word in reply to these acidic polemics. While they spoke against their oppression from the safety of their small cliques or on the soothing canvas of paper, King faced dangerous psychopaths that would have rather cut his throat than receive fellatio. Just because he was nonviolent, didn't mean that they were similarly inclined.
Martin Luther King Jr was the living embodiment of Bushido. His moral character, despite subsequent meaningless revelations of adultery, is still impeccable. He is without a doubt the finest theologian of the 20th Century. His commitment to changing the conditions that were destructive to life, was one sealed with his life and signed in his blood. If King's life can be summed up in one word, it would be service. Rapper Scarface once asked. Imagine grief on this earth when there's no peace. Imagine peace on this earth when there's no grief. If we in fact ask these questions, we will slowly come to understand and value Dr. Martin Luther King's love inspired revolutionary pacifism.
King saw the dawn of American empire. He fought doggedly with a sword of justice for those invisible faces of humanity to live in a word where they would be fed if they were hungry, clothed if they were naked, and protected from the fires of human cruelty. King will endure even though his message was misunderstood. He will rise from the dead imaginations of those willing to sacrifice justice for tranquility. King may not have a Japanese heritage or family crest, but he does have a legacy of service to humanity fueled by a revolutionary love. For in the words of Morihei Ueshiba, "The true meaning of the samurai is one who serves and adheres to the power of love." Therefore he is, was, and will always be a Samurai in the purest essence.
