I want to say that I'm deeply disappointed that my dear brother Barack Obama decided not to go pay tribute and lay his wreath for the great Martin Luther King, Jr. That brother Martin's profound love and deep sacrifice for black people, America and humanity is in no way reducible to political calculations, even for the campaign for presidency. That Martin Luther King Jr.'s deep commitment to unarmed truth and unconditional love can in no way be subject to strategies for access to political power. Hence, I have a very deep disagreement with my dear brother, Barack Obama -- in this case, commitment to truth is in tension with the quest for power.
This morning the annoyingly self-important Tavis Smiley, appearing on The Tom Joyner Morning Show, picked up on West's theme and, as is his wont, uttered some nonsense about the challenge of finding a "love language" and "lovingly" ways to critique Obama and others when they stray from what is apparently the new orthodoxy in the black community as manifested by West and Smiley. I would have thought that Smiley had learned a lesson when he was severely criticized for attacking Obama in February for not being present at the State of the Black Union conference in New Orleans. But in any regard, Obama's commitment to the principles and ideals of Dr. Knig should not be called into question simply because he wasn't in Memphis. At this stage of the game, Obama does not need to establish his bona fides. The support that he has gained in the Democratic presidential primary has put the matter to rest.
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