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Our Hero
by Harris Levon McRae
tory o f the U nited States. In Sep­
tem ber, 1954, D r. M a rtin L u th er
King Jr. and M rs. C o retta Scott
King took up residence in M o n t­
gomery, Alabama, where the young
D r. King assumed the pastorate o f
the Dexter Avenue Baptist church.
About a year later in December o f
1955, a tired Black w om an, Rosa
Parks, refused to get out o f her seat
when the bus d river asked her to
move to the back o f the bus. She
was arrested and ja ile d by the
police.
Montgomery Blacks numbering
in the thousands refused to ride on
the Jim Crow buses. Under the lead­
ership o f D r. King, as head o f the
Montgomery Improvement Associa­
tio n , they staged a bus boycott
which lasted more than a year, re­
sulting in victory when the Supreme
Court ruled that the kind o f racial
discrim in atio n practiced on the
buses was illegal.
Young D r. M a rtin Luther King
Jr. was world famous.
“ E veryb o d y’ s searching fo r a
hero; people need someone to look
up to; I never found anyone to ful­
fill my needs; a lonely place to be so
I learned to depend on m e .” As
George Benson sang those lyrics I
quietly uttered “ I heard th a t,” to
myself. Then I stopped to thin k
about the word "hero” and the stuff
heroes are made o f, and it is no
wonder they are so hard to find.
A hero is a man o f distinguished
valor and enterprise in danger, a
central person in any remarkable ac­
tion or event taking on tremendous
odds. Some folks picture John
W ayne w ith blazing six guns
winning the girl and riding o ff into
the sunset or super cops like " D irty
Harry” as hero material. To me the
prototype o f heroes is the man who
fought for tru th , justice and the
American way— D r. M artin Luther
King, Jr.
The main thing that I adm ired
about D r. King is th a t, although
For a decade M artin Luther King
deeply committed to the struggle o f
Jr. was a hero in every sense o f the
Black Americans against discrimin­
word. Among his many accomplish­
ation and racial prejudice, he had a
ments was his designation by Time
love and concern fo r all kinds o f
magazine as "M a n o f the Year” for
people. He drew no distinction be­
1963 and being awarded the Nobel
tween the Blacks and the whites, the
Peace Prize in 1964— the youngest
haves and have-nots.
person ever to receive the award.
At the root o f his civil rights fight
I was a twelve-year-old boy stand­
was a tremendous faith in the basic
ing in my mother’ s kitchen when I
goodness o f man and the great
heard o f Dr. King’s assassination on
potential o f American democracy.
A p ril 4 th , 1968. I felt an over-
He felt that the Black man needed
whelming feeling o f great loss.
the white man to free him from his
The crime dominated the media,
fears and that the white man needed
specials on T . V . , his speeches on
the Black man to free him from his
many o f the radio stations, fro n t­
guilt. Dr. King said, “ A doctrine o f
page stories several days in a row in
Black supremacy is as evil as a doc­
the newspapers. Detail after detail.
trine o f white supremacy.”
He was ambushed— shot with a
Another thing that I greatly ad­
high-powered rifle as he stood on
mired about M artin Luther King Jr.
the balcony o f the Lorraine Hotel in
was the fact that though very elo­
Memphis, Tennessee. He was in the
quent, he never relied solely on
midst o f plans for a "P o o r Peoples
words. He was a man o f action. He
March On Washington.”
once said, “ For years now I have
So there I was, robbed o f a hero,
heard the word ‘w ait.’ It rings in the
but by no means could anyone steal
ta r o f every Negro with a piercing
his memory. I will always remember
fa m ilia rity . The ‘ w a it’ has almost
his love for all hum anity, and his
always meant ‘ never.’ It has been a
courageous assaults on racial preju­
tranquilizing thalidomide, relieving
dice. I will always remember his de­
the em otional stress for the m o­
term ination to succeed— whatever
ment, only to give b irth to an ill-
the cost.
formed infant o f frustration.
The next time you think o f heroes
“ We have waited for more than
and sunsets remember these words
340 years for our constitutional and
o f D r. James Bevel; “ D r. King
God-giwn rights.”
walked w ith God. H e was tire d .
D r. King was thrust into leader­ God took him, and they walked o ff
ship at a crucial moment in the his­
into the Western sunset.1
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Page 18 Section II Portland Observer, January 21, 1982
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