On this day, the nation - and the world, will take time out to remember, honor, and celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. All over the country, Americans from all walks of life will come together and participate in various celebrations and community service activities designed to embody Dr. King's message of service and brotherhood.
I often reflect on what I can personally do to carry out Dr. King's message - and not just for one celebratory day - but something that I can do everyday, every moment. And what I've thought about, and feel strongly about - is helping to convince my fellow African-American brothers and sisters to eradicate the term "nigger" from their vernacular, even if used "out of love."
I say out of love because the use of the word is a casual, common parlance among the young and some adults, and the word is a staple in many hip-hop lyrics. Walk down any urban street or listen in on any gathering of black youth, and you'll likely hear phrases like "what's up, my nigga," or "that's my nigga" used in everyday greetings and as a show of affection.
But can a word that has so much hate and ugliness behind it ever be transformed by the victim's attempt to claim it and transcend it? Can you remove the sting from the word that was used to humiliate, degrade, and literally kill those that walked before you?
I am convinced that you can not, and that any usage of that word only serves to perpetuate a self-hate that is so ingrained that it is unconscious. And sadly Blacks are the only ethic group to so blindly embrace this self-hate. One can not imagine Latinos, Asians, or Jews readily tossing around among themselves such words as "wetback" "chink" or "kike."
And so on this day, my hope is that for those who use the n-word as a way to show love, in the spirit of Dr. King and for those who fought and died in the Civil Rights movement - can you instead replace that word with "brother?" After all, I'm certain that you will never read any account of someone being called "brother" just before they were beaten or lynched. History books are full of stories of the opposite though.