FRANK WILSON: Why are we still walking on King Day?

As Martin Luther King, Jr. Day draws near and as the annual Walk is being advertised, I was asked, “Why are we still walking?”

The cynic in me was tempted to reply, “If you have to ask, no answer I can give would help you understand.”

We walk to continue shining a light on the very issues that Dr. King walked for. Voting rights, discrimination in employment and housing, and racism have not gone away. In many ways, as a matter of fact, they have gotten a little worse.

The oppressed and those who oppress have very differing opinions and views, and because they do, many folk have to ask, “Why y’all still walking?”

When Boards of Education change curriculum in an attempt to change history, we walk.

When politicians run on a platform of taking the country back and backwards, we walk.

When Young black men kill each other because they lack communication and negotiating skills, we walk.

When our young women require only that a man be breathing before she falls for him, we walk.

When we meet only to decide when the next meeting will take place, we walk.

When bullets replace ballots and RACE is more important than CARE, we walk.

Crispus Attucks fell so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Barack could run. Barack ran so our children could fly.

We walk because the check Martin spoke about in 1963 continues to be returned for insufficient funds.