Who wants to be a prophet?

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

These words were spoken by the late Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.

Being a prophetic voice in the spirit of the prophets of the Judeo/Christian heritage is not an enviable space to be in until that prophetic voice has been silenced by death.

Dr. King now is celebrated these days by people who hate what he stood for in life, but in death, it is safe to quote him and misappropriate his words to suit their regressive intentions.

However, during his lifetime, Dr. King was a man who had to endure the worst hateful and vicious attacks one could ever imagine.

Yet, Dr. King did not only suffer because of white hate on steroids, he also had to navigate Black people who either thought he was stirring up trouble, or too soft with his pacifism and non-violent resistance, or Black people who were unconcerned about the conditions that were crippling Black and brown people.

At the height of the Civil Rights movement, Dr. King and the other leaders of the movement could only count on no more than 1500 churches in this nation for support.

It is not a respected position to voice an authentically prophetic voice in this nation.

The reason being is that prophetic voices threaten the power structure of a nation. Biblical prophets consistently raised their voices against their own governments that mistreated the most vulnerable, that excluded the disabled, that disallowed the poor in order to further empower themselves at the expense of the oppressed.

Biblical prophets had their lives threatened and generally lived lives of solitude and sadness. In the case of Amos, he had to address the threats of the preachers who were in the King’s pocket like Amaziah.

Amaziah was the paid preacher of the government, but Amos was the Lord’s prophet, and Amaziah threatened to use the power of the empire (whom he had the ear of) to destroy Amos. Jeremiah was rejected and threatened by people of his own hometown of Anathoth. In fact, John the Baptist was beheaded by the puppet of Rome’s King Herod.

We celebrate prophetic voices only after they have moved off the physical stage and sleep in death but not while they are alive.

In all the celebrations in Dr. King’s name that will happen around his birthday this year, most will not address how stressed King was in his lifetime.

Most will never point out that at one time in his life he checked himself in the hospital just to try to rest.

They will not examine the depression he had to work through and the tension he lived under worrying about the welfare of his wife and family.

Prophetic voices are rarely appreciated during their physical lives. It is no wonder that more people who feel the fire of justice and liberation shut up in their bones diminish those urges in order to have some measure of peace.

It is convenient and comfortable to preach and talk about Heaven when to risk raising attention about the hell that poor people have to endure is not only met with derision from the power structure but also met being alienated by those you seek to speak up for.

When one really assesses the state of this nation, it is more profitable to preach, scream and raise hateful diatribes against poor people, women’s reproductive agency, asylum seekers, and lie about critical race theory. Those that preach and teach hate are supported and financially enriched for their efforts. This truly is madness.

At the time of his death because he had the courage to speak out against an unjust and illegal war, Black leadership like Carl Rowan, Whitney Young and Roy Wilkens, to name a few publicly, denounced King for his position against the war. They thought President Johnson was the best friend of Black people and did not want to upset him so it was easy to throw King under the bus.

King during this time was the most unpopular person in the nation. How do you think he felt? 

As we celebrate Dr. King this year, I hope and pray that we couch it in the sacrifices he had to make because many if not most whether white or Black did not support him when he was alive.

To state the truth about his journey at first may be a painful truth, but from that pain can come a new realization that the prophetic voice must be appreciated and supported, because in doing that we all come to see that all of us have a responsibility to, as the Bible says, to “cry loud and spare not,” when it comes to justice for the poor, underclass and disinherited.

I close with the words of the late organizer and strategist Queen Mother Ella Baker that were put to music by the group Sweet Honey In The Rock, “We who believe in freedom cannot rest, until it comes…”   

Happy Heavenly Birthday Dr. King. Some of us remember what you went through to raise your prophetic voice and we will never forget. 

Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.” Contact the church by email at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.