![]() Instead, our roadmap takes the form of an idea–“an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago: President Obama declared that the roadmap for our nation’s journey does not take the form of specific directions. We, as individuals and as a nation, are on a journey. On the day America honored the memory and vision of Martin Luther King, Jr, President Obama delivered an inaugural speech in which he told the nation, “our journey is not complete.” I believe the President’s use of King’s Bible was part of a calculated attempt by the President at sending a specific message (a message that probably should have been much more explicit). Without a doubt, President Obama’s use of King’s Bible was intentional, but it represented far more than co-opting King’s prophetic fire for a moment of presidential pageantry. The Monday prior to President Obama’s inaugural speech marked the 50th anniversary of the inaugural speech given by George Wallace, governor of Alabama, who declared, “segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” It was given the year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington led by Martin Luther King, Jr. President Obama’s inaugural speech was given on the day the nation celebrated the Martin Luther King, Jr. I believe the President’s use of King’s Bible represented much more than a moment of presidential pageantry. While I have often been less than impressed by the President’s commitment to social inequity, I have no reason to think the President’s use of King’s Bible was merely a manipulative use of King’s prophetic fire in the service of presidential pageantry. ![]() Professor West also implied that the President’s use of King’s Bible was nothing more than a manipulative use of King’s “prophetic fire” during a moment of presidential pageantry. By ‘his people’ I mean people of good conscience, fundamentally committed to peace, and truth, and justice and especially the Black tradition that produced it. ![]() Martin Luther King Jr., and you don’t play with his people. I got upset because you don’t play with Dr. When I got the news that my dear brother, Barack Obama, President Obama, was going to put his hand on Martin Luther King Jr.’s Bible, I got upset. When asked his thoughts about President Obama using Dr. I do not, however, feel that President Obama was merely “playing with Martin Luther King” by using King’s Bible during his swearing-in ceremony. For the most part, I have and continue to agree with much of Professor West’s criticism of President Obama. While usually making it clear that he voted for President Obama, Professor West has been an outspoken critic of the President. I consider it an honor and a privilege to call Professor West a friend and a colleague. ![]() from Yale University and began a career as a college professor. Professor West introduced me to the notion of the life of the mind and encouraged me to pursue my Ph.D. ![]() I was an active member and officer of the Association of Black Seminarians and an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Professor West was a professor at Princeton University. I got to know Professor West while I was a graduate student working on my master’s degree at Princeton Theological Seminary. One of the harshest critiques was given by my dear friend and graduate school mentor, Professor Cornel West. While every presidential inauguration includes a degree of presidential pageantry, there has been quite a bit of commentary on President Obama’s use of Martin Luther King, Jr’s Bible during his inaugural swearing-in service. ![]()
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