Today is a national holiday for one of the world’s greatest humanitarians — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Had he not been gunned down by a white supremacist on the balcony of his hotel in Memphis, TN on April 4, 1968, he would have celebrated his 84th birthday six days ago. Not so coincidentally,  today also marks the day that America has chosen to inaugurate it’s first “mixed-race” president, Barack Hussein Obama, into his second term. I have always been disturbed by the (black community’s) comparisons of the two (especially the numerous photoshopped images on the Internet or murals throughout inner city ghettos) given that Obama has refused to address the unique historical and contemporary problems (institutional racism and discrimination in employment, housing, health care, education, etc.) that have prevented African Americans — not token individuals —  from actualizing their full social, economic and political potential in this country.

But on January 17, 2013, Dr. Cornel West eloquently shared his thoughts on this topic after it was announced that Obama would be taking his oath on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Bible!!