The Churn

Never Forget: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Was Cool as Hell

Mike JordanJanuary 14, 2021

Dr. King peace sign

What safety is there to be had in a dangerous world?

That question isn’t comfortable. Neither is living in America, especially for anyone with an honest perspective on how this country operates. And it’s especially difficult to feel safe in America when you’re born Black.

America does not run on fairness, equality, justice or any of the other things that we love telling ourselves are tenets of The American Way, any more than it runs on Dunkin’ Donuts. American runs on fear and loathing. 

We don’t teach that in school, although we probably should, especially after what happened in D.C. last week. It’s all connected to a fear of the unknown (in the case, what might happen if people stopped being afraid of sharing power), and a loathing of people who demand changes to the American power structure.

Even for those who have sporadically achieved such a feeling, it’s not something that sticks. It’s something you have to work at maintaining. 

For the purposes of discussing Dr. King, let’s call this thing “cool.” 

Many of us grew up believing Martin Luther King, Jr. to be this passive character who let people hit him but never hit back. We were taught in grade school that the main thing to know about King was that he preferred marching, sitting, speaking and singing to a more aggressive response. 

And every year, people tie themselves into knots creating content to say that he wasn’t just some nice guy who was killed for trying to fix things.

It’s not like this isn’t true, but it reduces what is too often overlooked about King. He was cool as hell. 

You have to be cool to walk around leading a crowd of people expressing their discontent with The American Way in the 1960s South, especially without a bulletproof vest or any sort of protection outside of the perceived safety in numbers. And when you have the amount of supporters that King had, obviously you represent a threat to the power structure you seek to change. 

But compared with the confrontational style of Malcolm X, Dr. King was usually typecast as the beta male version of a Black community leader. It was unfair then, and it remains untrue today. 

King wasn’t just brave; he was bold. He stood up and stood out. Before him, not many people were as willing to put their bodies on the frontlines for peace, social justice, racial and economic equality, and other worthy causes. But this native Atlantan, and others like our beloved John Lewis, answered the call. 

With all due respect (and more respect is due than any of us could ever give anyway), that’s not what we’re here to go on and on about. We’re here today to remind you how cool Dr. King was. 

It’s cool as hell to be a bold person for good causes. It’s also cool to be extremely smart, which King was — he had two bachelor’s degrees (he started Morehouse at 15 years old) and a Ph.D. 

It’s also cool to recognize and appreciate the beauty of Black culture, from personal style to the arts. King was big on music, especially jazz and gospel, and spoke about the power and importance of Black music to the Civil Rights Movement. 

And musicians loved King. 

Dr. King remains the only American besides George Washington whose birthday is celebrated as a federal holiday. He represents the tip of the spear — the drum major who led people of good conscience to understand their collective power. Around the world there are statues, monuments, murals and other homages honoring this cool-ass ATLien who bent the history of the world further into what one day might look like justice.

All of this while always looking extremely cool. I mean, you’re familiar with the man’s sense of fashion, right?

It’s one thing — and a thing not to be diminished — to say that someone is courageous. It is another to say that they not only had courage but were also cool as hell. 

Dr. King’s coolness must be recognized and celebrated, so that those of us lucky enough to live in a world made better because of his sacrifice never forget the magnitude of his achievements, and our own ability to affect change. And that’s especially true if you live in Atlanta.

This weekend belongs to Dr. King and all of us. Go out and celebrate his legacy, and be proud of the fact that Atlanta is still putting on for the planet, thanks to ol’ cool-ass MLK, who knew how to dress, speak, listen and lead, when the world had never seen his level of cool.

Dr. King was a radical. He was a freedom fighter. He was a front-liner. And he died standing up for his beliefs, even though so many people had turned against him by the time he was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, in April 1968.

Let’s all spend at least a few minutes thinking about getting on his level. 

Don’t stay safe; stay dangerous, shawty. Stay stubborn until you create the change you want to see in the world. Stay cool.