Dr. King Turned Hopeless Into Hopeful

CLEVELAND - Given the blatantly racist climate of the 1960's, it's a wonder that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn't destroyed long before he was. But his uncompromised drive to bring together a segregated nation continues improving our society, if only in small and imperceptible doses.

But, because of him, we have hope.

Today is the annual celebration of King's legacy. For the past 24 years, he has been honored with a national holiday that was initially rejected by "the powers that be." Knowing how much resistance that he received when he tried to bring us all together during his lifetime, the difficulty of making a King holiday a reality was apparent long before it was proposed. But I believe that every one of us Americans owe him a debt of gratitude. King wasn't about championing Blacks to the exclusion of everyone else. He was in fact, very inclusive. He wanted civil and equal rights for everyone. It just so happened that Blacks were the most disrespected in this country during the Civil Rights Movement.

At a time when mainstream acceptance for Blacks seemed like a pipe dream of fantastical proportions, Dr. King, with his stubborn determination and convictions gave us hope. With his legendary public crusades and powerful oration, we suddenly had a shot at equal rights comparable to Whites. Or so it seemed. It has now been nearly 42 years since his tragic death, but racism is still quite strong, though not as upfront and prohibitive as it was then.

Whatever progress this nation has made as a racially unified land, us Blacks owe it to King for giving us a shot in the dark. And everyone else owes it to him for bringing a small measure of peace and civility to the U.S.

Think about it.

Double Returns From Jail

CLEVELAND - In a sprawling, yet riveting edition of a Date with Deante, the raunchy and hilarious host converses with iconic bum Tony Train Wreck, and freak nasty Alicia; both of whom make memorable returns from the big house.

And it's great theater.

Deante Young's racy and controversial web series debuts its 46th episode today, and at nearly 28 minutes in length, it is more than twice the duration of the average season 2 episode. Even still, he delivers an amazing installment of comedy, racism, tension and sex.

As usual, he knows no boundaries.

The last time Tony Train Wreck had been seen was in the 41st episode when he, in a drunken stupor was soaked with a hose by a group of guys then later arrested by cops. Alicia hadn't been seen since a very brief appearance in the 43rd episode, during the filming she was arrested on a warrant. Both she and Tony Train Wreck have been pivotal cornerstones of season 2 and with their performances in this clip, they are destined to go down as two of the most indelible personalities in the show's history.

Check out "Don't Stop Til' You Get Enough" and appreciate the brilliance of its personality.

King's Dream Will Never Totally Come True

CLEVELAND - Racism has always been a major stumbling block for this country, so even though we have made incredible progress to improve, it will never totally evaporate.

So much for that famous dream once shared by a King.

Today marks the 46th anniversary of what came to be known as the 'I Have a Dream' speech given by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King in Washington D.C. The lasting theme of that iconic speech was King's revelation of his dream of unity between people of all races and creeds. He articulated his ideals for a homogenized America, not a polarized one and it came during the apex of the Civil Rights movement. His words, so powerful when he delivered them, continues to resonate with Blacks all these decades later. But in spite of the major progress (in certain areas) made by us as a people, our country remains divided along racial lines and will always be that way.

That's the power of ignorance.

True, present day America is guided by a Black president named Barack Obama. His election last year was historical because it placed a black man in the White House as its top resident for the first time in history. But his seven month old administration has seen its fair share of racist threats and taunts and many Americans still harbor ill feelings towards others outside of their own race because of their race.

That is unfortunate.

We still have a long way to go because the destination is so vague. People inherit beliefs and philosophies from their ancestors and pass them on to their progeny. It's a vicious cycle without a conclusion and thus, a sad reality.

We'll never be perfect, so let's just pray for continued progress.

Both Sides Are Correct In Gates Arrest Saga

CLEVELAND - I've been watching the aftermath of Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s arrest for several days now and I'm very conflicted at who was "in the right."

Gates or the police?

Gates, an African-American professor at Harvard was arrested last week for disorderly conduct after an incident with an officer in his own home. Cambridge, Massachusetts Sergeant James Crowley was the arresting officer of the esteemed professor and the confrontation has ignited a national discussion on the viability of the arrest as well as racial profiling.

Many in the Black community have expressed outrage at the arrest of such a prestigious man in his own home and cite it as a tangible example of racist agendas by law enforcement. President Obama commented on the situation during a press conference on health care and famously stated that the Cambridge Police Department "acted stupidly" in their tactics which led to the arrest.

Of course, Obama came under fire for those "strong words."

The Cambridge Police Department dropped the charge against Gates, but Crowley has refused to apologize for the arrest. In fact, the department feels that Obama should issue an apology to Crowley for making his statement without knowledge of all the facts, a point that the president himself admitted to being unaware of.

I can see both sides as being right. People that agree with the arrest and feel that it was the proper thing to do are justified because of the circumstances. Gates was being a bit "unruly" and even behaved arrogantly, according to the official report. However, folks that believe that Gates was the victim of racism and should never have been arrested in his own home are justified in their beliefs due to the long history of police misconduct with minorities. It is very difficult, if not impossible for Whites to understand that even if they've been "victimized" themselves. When you're Black, it feels as though you're constantly under the cops' thumb because it has happened so much. It's easy to see how people can think Gates was just being "picked on" because of his race and status. Conversely, Blacks may ignore the fact that he didn't exactly behave like an esteemed member of the community while dealing with Crowley which may have actually led to the arrest.

Bottom line, Blacks will forever be suspicious and untrusting of cops because of their own harrowing and unjust experiences with the boys in blue, not to mention hundreds of years of pervasive racism that still exists in a more "discreet" way. White folks will always think Blacks are just grasping for excuses and crying wolf.

We all need to try and walk in each other's shoes every now and then.