Moses and Martin

Many moons ago, long ago and far away, in a kingdom by the Nile, there came upon the folk of that region a dynasty that took control of everything, grabbing the reins of power, erecting the pyramidic stones of elevated hegemony, and leaving a permanent pyramid of wonder for all the see and wonder. . . how in the hell did they do that? Slaves, my dear. T'was slaves, bound to harness, driven to a destination, driven into exhaustion and unchosen servitude. T'was slave labor that built those incredible pyramids, slave labor driven by the Pharoah's, man. It all happened long ago, in a dynasty far, far away, a desert region where people from all over the world go to gaze upon those Pyramids of ancient and wonder how they did it and stand amazed that those triangular monuments have stood there for so, so, long, thousands and thousands of years. Yes, Virginia, 't'was slave labor that did it. And who, you may ask, who were those slaves? Now I don't know, but I been told, some reports of old, about who those slaves were who built those Pyramids of old. Considering what I know about the African continent, and what I have learned about the natives who lived there, I do believe that many, many of those enforced laborers were black folk, maybe from nearby, maybe from Cush or even further down ole man River Nile. But one thing I know cuz I been told that some of those slaves of old were (wait for it) Hebrews. Jews. How do I know this? Moses. Moses wrote about it, explaining to his descendants and - as it later turned out - to all the world - explaining how the Hebrews had been enslaved, by and by, generations after their ancestor, Joseph, son of Jacob, had found himself stuck there. After that . . . after millennia of time had rolled through the hour-glass of world history, a young preacher in Atlanta was reading about Moses' having lead his people, the Jews, out of Egypt and into the Promise Land. Now that ancient account - that biblical history and testimony has become sacred Scripture for millions of believers, Jew and Christian. In the 1960's, Dr. Martin Luther King was lifted, by his people and by the inspiration of Almighty God, beyond his Atlanta ministry. He was called upon by the Lord of the Universe, and by the people of the United States of America, to lead his people out of servitude - out of second-class citizenship. . . beyond discrimination and prejudice and into . . . wait for it . . . The Promised Land! Sad to say, there were some people here in what s'posed to be the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. . . some people who refused, for a long while, to forsake their prejudice.

And so Dr. King took unto himself, and to those who joined with him, the mantle of leadership, to struggle, as the Jews had done in ancient Egypt, to exit, to exodus, out of the land of enslavement and to travel through the deserts of of discrimination, prejudice and deprivation . . . to the Promised Land! On the night before Dr. King was shot in Memphis, he spoke to a crowd of Christian believers in that city. His message was profound, well-prepared through his wisdom and his biblical understanding and wisdom. There were signs of impending peril and doom. The air was thick with tension, fear and wonder, at what will happen next, because Dr. King knew - he had been warned by the enemies in a phone call - that his days were numbered. But he didn't know, of course, exactly what going to happen. He spoke to his brethren, on what is now know to be. . . that last night, and he said, following the precedent of Moses: "I've been to the mountaintop; I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. . ." I mean, we know that Moses did not get to the Promised Land with his people, even though he had lead them out of Egypt, through the wilderness and to the very pinnacle of being able to see that Promised Land. But the Lord took him. And, hear this, all ye believers, the Lord took Martin Luther King, even though the racist assholes thought it was there victory. Later, those people who were lead out of southern slavery - those former slaves - where are they now? Where are their descendants? Look around you. Need I say more? Listen to the song I wrote about Moses and Martin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxR5ldxyg8U