Happy Birthday Dr. King!

Uncategorized Jan 24, 2025

Today is MLK's birthday.

Happy birthday Dr. King!

There's something in his legacy that I want to bring forward.

It's something that I saw in his close associates, elders who were in their 60s and 70s when I met them.

They still lived in the South.
They were still community builders.
They still challenged injustice.


But what I saw, what I felt, in them was different than what I felt in my generation of activists.

They were rooted in Love.
They worked for justice, but without judgment.

("Justice without Judgment" is a phrase I encountered in Gary Zukav.)

June Jordan has a poem "when I was a young soldier for the revolution."

When I was a young activist in the 80s, I was super judgmental of people.

Some people I called apathetic.
Some "careerist" --only interested in themselves.
Some petit-bourgeois.
Some militant--I liked those.

But the problem was that all that judgment circulated back amongst the change makers.

It's really hard to be honest about your mistakes when you're in a culture of judgment.

It's really hard to build unity when "there's only one way."

And it's really hard to love yourself and heal generational trauma (which many, many activists have inherited) in a space of judgment.

Therefore, our movements and organizations got divisive, small, and full of negativity.

As Jojopahmaria Nsoroma says, 'what you don't transform, you transfer" onto others.

Trees invited me to stop Judging.

 

Let me tell you a more recent story.

In 2018 I was canvassing for a Jess King, a wonderful woman running for Congress in my predominantly Republican county.

Jess, a compassionate wise person who I trusted, had a pathway to victory if we get people who voted Republican to listen to her message.

So, Michael and I went into a wealthy gated community.
We knocked on a few doors of people on our list.
No answer.
Someone hailed us from a driveway across the street.
And I thought--Yes!
A human we can talk to.

We crossed over as far as the sidewalk and the human, a White woman--started to berate us for soliciting.

I countered that canvassing is not soliciting.

She escalated and threatened to call the police.
She took our picture.
I told Michael to take her picture.
She called the police.

I urged Michael to leave.
As we drove home, I felt like I had been run out of town.
I felt humiliated.
I questioned my actions--should we have stood our ground?
I felt scared.
I felt small.


An hour or so later, a policeman showed up at our door.

Furious and afraid, I emailed my country commissioner and requested his help.

Then, I went on Facebook and told my whole side of the story.
I called it canvassing while Black.
She had hurt me.
She had humiliated me.
She had sent the police to my home!

I struck back.
I shared what I thought was her name and that picture.

At first it felt good to release all of that emotion.
I got a ton of sympathy from people I knew.

But then other "FB friends" chimed in and in the name of justice, the judgment spewed.

This person was no longer a neighbor; she was an object of disgrace.
Anger, scorn and desire for revenge erupted.

Holy sh*t!
I was afraid.
For her.

I was afraid that people on "my side," would do harm.

I took down my post.

I wrote a new post about holding space for transformation.

But the media got involved and the story kept encouraging Judgment.

Thank God!
We didn't have any eruptions of violence.
The media moved on to other stories.
But it could have easily sparked a wildfire of hate.


So, when I talk about this older generation being rooted in Love and Justice without Judgment, I know what the opposite feels like.


That is the gift of Dr. King's activism.

He walked the line of Justice without Judgment--not perfectly--but with intention.

The ultimate goal was never desegregation or voting rights.
Those were strategies.

The ultimate goal was to redeem the soul of America and the souls of her peoples from fear and hatred unto Love.

Love and peace,

Aminata Desert Rose Plant Walker Fire Woman, Founder
Mother Tree Community/Mother Tree Network Podcast

P.S.--Join the Mother Tree Community! We are Founders, Leaders and Creatives rooted in love, standing for justice.

Close

Get notified when each new episode drops!