Many of you might not realize this, but 50 years ago, on April 4, 1968, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated. This means so much to me and America because we all lost a warrior for peace. I was also born eight months later.
That was a dangerous time. Many were walking on eggshells because just the tinniest match could have set this entire nation ablaze. Those who had walked and marched with King fell to the wayside, while others sought political office. Some rose from shadows with a darker view of King’s dream, one he wouldn’t have approved of to this day.
My father patterned his pastorship after Rev. King, including his delivery. I revered and held King on a very high mountain and still do to this day.
And because of all that, here’s what I say to Newsweek. What in the hell were you thinking? Even Rev. King’s daughter was shocked at this tweet:
Newsweek tweeted and immediately deleted this insensitive photo of King that caused outrage. The photo above was of the civil rights leader in an open casket with a link to notable anniversaries coming in 2018. Newsweek captioned the post, “Has anyone seen my old friend Martin?”
I didn’t get to see the original tweet to click on the link to the story, but they could have used a better photo than this.
As I stated, Newsweek deleted the post and issued an apology to the King family: “Earlier this afternoon we published an opinion piece with an insensitive image of Martin Luther King Jr. We sincerely apologize to the King family for this egregious error.”
Bernice King, daughter of the patriarch, went live on social media to further discuss the incident while accepting their apology for the insensitive tweet.
What A Way To Start The New Year. #Newsweek, #MLK50Forward, #BelovedCommunity https://t.co/IP0xfjfUh3
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) January 1, 2018
I would still have an attitude right now if they had done this to my father. “How could they?” and “Who did it?” are the questions I would be asking. They happened to get King’s daughter on a good day, I am guessing.
One day, I may grow to forgive, but I am not there yet. I will be 50-years-old this year and I have so much to thank God for and Rev. King is one of those things. We can’t allow stupidity to reign on social media, we have to call it out whenever we get a chance.
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