Well, today we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King. It's a national holiday to some of us and just another day to others. The man never held a political office like Senator, Congressman or President, yet is considered by many to have brought about more change than any politician in the last forty years. I respect him and what he stood for.

My question is this...who is carrying his torch? Who else in this nation "has a dream"? Since he has died, I have not seen anyone pick up where he left off. There are a few celebraties that have sqeaked a little, but nobody has carried on his roar. Certainly racism and breaches in civil rights still exist. Did Dr. King solve these problems prior to leaving us? Black people were quick to follow a strong leader like King, but who is the leader now?

Don't talk to me about Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. They are so immoral that Dr. King would probably roll over in his grave. Just goes to show that ANYONE can wear the title "reverend" if Mr. Jackson can.

Alan Keyes is a moral man. I'm afraid that noone can really relate to him. Especially since he is a Republican. How about Mr. Cosby? He has caused a stir of late, but I'm afraid he is just too old. I think that blacks think of him more like "that's just old honory Bill, try to ignore him".

Maybe the new Senator, Obama I think his name is, could be the guy. He certainly excited the Democratic Convention. But now that he is a Senator, he is in "the Club". Either he can use his new power to continue the cause, or he will be careful not to piss anybody off. My bet is the latter.

Maybe you think that things are so much better than in King's day, that the cause is dead. Maybe the problems now are more international and multi-cultural. Have we come together enough that a King replacement is no longer neccessary? I can't really answer that. But, todays black youth (all youth for that matter) really have no good public roll models. So if they come from a single parent family, the odds really begin to stack against them. Where am I going with this? I merely want to stimulate some thought. I don't claim to have the answers. But certainly, nobody seems to be asking the questions. All I see is parades and celebrations for Dr. King, and that's great! But who is going to step up now???

Until next time, see ya