When one first looks at the statue of Martin at the memorial, one feels respect and a tinge of awe. However upon considered reflexive discernment one realizes that this respect and awe is not from the attributes of his statue or the memorial but from one's aging personal memories of Martin, memories which future generations will not have. The statue after awhile tears at those memories replaces them with a gargantuan fat headed monster. Sharky&Sharky remember Martin; People in the future will not have memories of Martin all they will have is this fat headed monster.
The Statue is Ugly! Sharky&Sharky means to repeat. It is not ugly by intentional design that was accomplished by lack of great artistic competence; it is ugly because Chinese people cannot see black people as a beautiful people. In fact Chinese people as a rule cannot cannot see American black people at all. (Please do not write in and give the few exceptional examples that exist on planet Earth.) Chinese people are taught from birth that American Blacks are dangerous and ugly if they are taught at all. They know from their culture that American Blacks are to be shunned and that they, the Chinese, are superior to African Americans (formerly Negroes). They are taught this early in life. Every American Black has experienced that a Chinese person will not look at them. Thus they embrace and produce the stern figure on the left and not the human on the right. The Eyes certainly do not have it. The one on the right looks a bit like every Mao statue. Well it should, the Sculptor Lei Yixin is a Chinaman that has done 35 or so statues of Mao. The lead design group, Roma Design Group site does not feature the King memorial. Among Roma's featured sites is one of folks sitting on curved stones. I guess those aesthetics are superior to the unshown King Memorial.
Inappropriate: not fitting to the task. The task is inspiring average Americans to possess the moral leadership when it comes to solving problems challenging liberty. First Reverend was a Christian preacher. "DUH". This is a foundational pillar of Martin. I must have missed the symbols of Christianity at the memorial. There are fourteen quotes on the Inscription Wall. Only one quote speaks to American Exceptionalism or Christian perseverance; the rest anodynely speak for Radical Secularism and/or World Community that could have been said by any good-hearted aspirational soul after a few beers. To wit:
"Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."
"Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies."These are certainly aspects of Reverend King's later legacy but not solely or primarily the American him, much less relevant to us as Americans. However there is no doubt who said and the inspiration that results from the one message:
We are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs "down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream."The Memorial is not fitting to the task of representing the American Reverend King to Americans. First the monument is extraordinarily difficult to interpret for all other than biblical scholars. It is comprised of a chunked out Mountain of Despair yielding a Stone of Hope which has the figure of Reverend King emerging (ala Michelangelo's Pieta). This is a possible interpretation of RSV's Daniel 2, 31-45. Specifically:
"a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand and it broke in pieces [the Nebuchadnezzar idol made of] the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold."Well Sharky&Sharky guess that the interpretation is that Reverend King and his followers are the stone, cut by no human hand, that broke the false idol of hatred, bigotry, and discrimination. Is this why Martin has such a determined fierce look? Who the hell is going to figure all of this out? Take this copy of Sharky&Sharky with you when visit the MLK memorial.
Albeit Reverend King made this stone and mountain comparison that does not mean that they were not better quotes to choose. However the sculptor Lei was inspired by the quote Mountain and Stone. He could sculpt more. The MLK memorial is lots of stone but little substance. The Washington Post has more pictures and a size representation. The Stone of Hope is much taller than Lincoln or Jefferson. In fact there is enough stone to make a whole new monument.
Sculptor Lei could not have related to or understood a Biblical quote as a function of Love and Danger. Thus we have an communist animist actualization in stone of a righteous man and rights movement. Are there metaphors in Chinese? Does sculptor Lei understand English or Western Poetry or Pastoral Love? Perhaps he is incognitive. Seems very absurd that a communist foreigner that has never undergone a civil rights experience would have been chosen to represent the man that was a key factor in the civil rights laws of the US.
The Hebrews led by Moses, came to hardstop with the Red Sea in front and the Egyptian on their behinds; they turned to Moses and inquired were there not enough graveyards in Egypt that we had to come this far to die. Sharky&Sharky now asks: Were there not enough sculptors in America who apply to the NEA or are lifetime award winners in same? Creating the MLK memorial would have been a way for the American citizen to get some recompense for their NEA tax money. Was there not enough granite in Elberton, Georgia, Reverend King's home state, the granite capital of the world, to create the MLK monument?
Returning to Pastoral Love. An American Black Christian preacher is a trumpet for his Lord and his Savior Jesus Christ. Ideologically, these preachers freed the blacks enslaved in America before Lincoln. Preaching is not a profession for a faith questioner; this is a profession for Isaiahs.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"Reverend King was a voice in the church and in the public for his Christian Faith. In the Church he said in the Guidelines for a Constructive Church:
Some people are suffering. (Make it plain) Some people are hungry this morning(Yes) [clap] . Some people are still living with segregation and discrimination this morning. (Yes, sir) I'm going to preach about it. (Preach it; I’m with you) I’m going to fight for them. I’ll die for them if necessary, because I got my guidelines clear. (Yes) And the God that I serve and the God that called me to preach (Yes; Amen) told me that every now and then I'll have to go to jail for them. (Make it plain) Every now and then I’ll have to agonize and suffer for the freedom of his children. (Yes) I even may have to die for it. But if that’s necessary, I'd rather follow the guidelines of God (Yes) than to follow the guidelines of men. (Yes) The church is called to set free (Yes) those that are captive, (Yes, sir) to set free those that are victims of the slavery of segregation and discrimination, those who are caught up in the slavery of fear and prejudice. (Make it plain)
And then the church, if it is true to its guidelines, must preach the acceptable year of the Lord. (Yes, sir, Make it plain) You know the acceptable year of the Lord is the year that is acceptable to God because it fulfills the demands of his kingdom. Some people reading this passage feel that it’s talking about some period beyond history, (Make it plain) but I say to you this morning that the acceptable year of the Lord can be this year. (Yes) And the church is called to preach it.
The acceptable year of the Lord is any year (Amen) when men decide to do right.In a public speech to sanitation workers in Memphis the night before he was killed he said:
And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?Definitely a trumpet for his Lord. Any and all of his expressions of his Christian faith are missing from the memorial. Why? Sharky&Sharky surmise that these expressions could possibly offend the Communists and Atheists, et al. therefore the Christian Minister, Martin, that lifted millions of peoples' consciousness for "Justice sake" is watered down to an utilitarian motivational speaker.
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
Dis-inspirational: The Inscription Wall is an appeal to an utopian vague dream; which only inspires people with childlike minds. It is not for or about real people that were lynched or beaten or walked every day in fear for themselves or their loves one. It in no way depicts the struggles of those people and what they over came. Nothing is mentioned of their travails. Everything at the memorial is vapid there is nothing that is inspirational. Where should this inspiration emanate from? Martin's Words, Martin Leadership of American People, Martin's Influence on US Policy that attempts to correct racial wrongs nay a debauching racist ecology. One can read about about this at the Stanford Site. Note each speech/sermon and the conditions under which it is written or given. Feel the inspiration and be prepared to have your heart move into your throat and your eyes tear up. Since there is nothing at the memorial site now, there will be less in the future when all the current generations and their memories are gone.
Sharky&Sharky aver that there is a potential for inspiration at the MLK Memorial. So it is freely offered. Thomas Jefferson made significant contributions to the founding and development of the US. Examples are the Declaration of Independence and the Louisiana Purchase. However Jefferson was a slaveholder and he acted to protect slaveholding both as a businessman (although a failed one) and as a government official. An Associated Press article by Bruce Smith details this.
Slaves likely started fleeing toward Florida when South Carolina was established in 1670, said Jane Landers, a Vanderbilt University historian who has researched the subject extensively. The first mention of escaped slaves in Spanish records was in 1687 when eight slaves, including a nursing baby, showed up in St. Augustine.This "convincing" aligns with the UFDC timeline of Jefferson becoming Secretary of State and The Spanish Crown "ending its policy of giving sanctuary to runaway slaves". The Purdy Collection delineates the Jefferson threat if the sanctuary is not stopped.
Spain refused to return them and instead gave them religious sanctuary, and that policy was formalized in 1693. The only condition is that those seeking sanctuary convert to Catholicism.
“It was a total shift in the geopolitics of the Caribbean and after that anyone who leaves a Protestant area to request sanctuary gets it,” Landers said.
That promise of freedom played an important role in the Stono Rebellion, when a group of about 20 slaves raided a store, collecting guns and other weapons, in September 1739.
Mark Smith, a historian at the University of South Carolina, said the slave leaders were from what is now Angola in Africa. They were Catholic, because their homeland was at the time a Portuguese outpost. And they are thought to have been soldiers in their native land.
They would have known about the rumor of freedom in Spanish Florida and decided to start the revolt on Sept. 9, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“They have a white flag, which is not a flag of surrender. It’s a flag of celebrating Mary, and they shout ‘Liberty.’ They are not revolting just as slaves, but as Catholic slaves,” Smith said.
At least 20 whites were killed in the rebellion. The militia later caught up with the slaves and 34 of them were killed. Some who escaped were found and executed later, although some apparently made it to safety in Florida because there are reports of more slaves arriving in St. Augustine in the ensuing days, Landers said.
Gullah creole is still spoken in churches in northeastern Florida, Landers said.
Hankerson, who grew up with stories of the Underground Railroad, said escaped slaves got help from American Indian tribes including the Creeks, the Cherokees and the Yemassee. They also advanced deeper into Florida and found refuge with the Seminoles.Except for about 20 years when the British held St. Augustine between the end of the French and Indian War and the end of the American Revolution, the Spanish policy of sanctuary remained in effect until 1790 when Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson convinced the Spanish crown to end it. Many runaways escaped amid the chaos and violence of the revolution, and keeping that corridor open could have drained the Southern colonies of slaves, Landers said.
I may perhaps have Occasion sometimes to solicit the Permission of your Excellency to make such Communications as may tend to preserve and promote a good Understanding between out two countriesThe Spanish governor responded displaying much pain:
"Having received the king’s order to permit, on no account, that the slaves of the U.S. introduce themselves into this province (Florida) as free persons, I avail myself of the first occasion which presents itself to me to forward you notice of it. It seems to me useful, as well to preserve in part the interests of both parties, as that it may be a means of preventing wars, and finally shews that they are eradicating every where the remains of those laws which subsist to our shame."Therefore what could be more inspiring to all people of good conscience than a humble man such a Martin, a descendant of the enslaved, a man of moral leadership keeping a watchful and distrustful eye on the politically powerful such as Thomas Jefferson a slave owner.
Philosophically Incorrect Martin viewed communism as a failure of Christianity. He raised the question can a Christian be a Communist. Martin answer was an emphatic "no". Martin states clearly that as his first reason is in communism there is no God:
[Communism] regards religion psychologically as wishful thinking, regards religion intellectually as the product of fear and ignorance. And it regards religion historically as an instrument serving the ends of exploiters. This is what communism teaches about religion. And so, in a real sense, we disagree with this because we believe that history is moved not by economic forces but by spiritual forces. [Congregation: ] (Amen, Yeah) We believe that there is a God (Pray on) in this universe (Yes sir, Yes), a God who loves his children, and a God who works through history for the salvation of man. (Pray on) Consequently, we can’t accept communism at that point.The second reason is that Martin disagrees with the strategy of communism as opposed to Christianity:
Lenin, the man who was something of the technician of communism, putting the philosophy of Karl Marx into practical action, said on one occasion, “We must be ready to employ trickery, deceit, and lawbreaking, withholding and concealing truth." That the followers of Lenin have been willing to act upon these instructions is a matter of history. For communism the end justifies the means.
We believe that there are certain moral principles in this universe that are eternal and absolute. We believe that there are some things right and there are some things wrong. It’s wrong to lie. It always has been wrong, and it always will be wrong. It’s wrong to hate. (Yes sir) It always has been wrong, and it always will be wrong. It’s wrong to throw away the precious lives that God has given us in riotous living. It was wrong in 1800 B.C., and it’s wrong in 1962 A.D. It’s wrong in Russia. It’s wrong in China. It’s wrong in India. It’s wrong in New York. It’s wrong in Atlanta. (Yeah) We believe that there are some things right, eternally and absolutely so, and there are some things wrong. Then we don’t believe that the end justifies the means if those means happen to be bad. For we know that the end represents the means in process and the ideal in the making. The end is preexistent in the means. And so destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends. Immoral methods cannot achieve moral goals. And so we disagree with the ethical relativism of communism.
Lastly Martin disagrees with communism and finds it repulsive to man's freedom for good classical John Locke reasons: one becomes a slave of the state.
He [Karl Marx] says that while you are on the way to this classless society the state is the end. Man becomes only a means to that end. And if any man’s so-called rights or liberties stand in the way of that end, they are simply swept aside. And so in the communistic system, you do not have freedom of the press. You do not have freedom of speech. You do not have freedom of assembly. All of these things are under the scrutiny of the state, which is manipulated through the party. And whatever the Party says, that must be done. All of the freedoms that are dear to us are denied. Man has to be a servant, a dutiful and submissive servant of the state. The state is omnipotent and supreme,This sermon goes on to raise more significant points perhaps beyond the intelligence of this post; however, Sharky&Sharky ask the simple questions: Why would you use a communist artist from the leading communist country, who used unpaid slave-to-low cost labor to build the memorial to your greatest freedom fighter since the Roosevelt-Churchill partnership? What is the possible message of inspiration that future generations will get? Certainly not one that Reverend King would want those future children to have. The memorial blurts that it was all about nothing. There was no transformation of a simple preacher to national leader, there was no inspirational freeing of a people, there was transformation of an American ethic. Little of significance was done in the past; there is no work to be done in the future. The MLK as it stands now is no more than a weekend TV special. However there is enough stone to build an Inspirational Monument to Martin. However not for him but for all the rest of us.
Sharky&Sharky©
