(UPDATED)
I had to catch an early morning flight out of Memphis, but made a point of making a 5 a.m. visit to the Lorraine Motel, the site where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down 40-years-ago today. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised but there was already a small crowd gathered to pay vigil, an obvious reminder of just how much impact the event continues to have for Americans, particularly (but certainly not limited to) African-Americans.
I was in Memphis for a very interesting panel discussion sponsored by Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. In addition to me and Kevin Chavous, from DFER, the panelists included Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, former Milwaukee Superintendent Howard Fuller, KISS FM radio host (and former drummer for Miles Davis) James Mtume, Sharpton (briefly), and Urban League CEO Marc Murial. NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein moderated the panel.
When the panel was over, Howard Fuller asked me what had just happened. I wasn’t really sure. It is hard to describe, but it was sort of surreal. We had a frank discussion about the education problem and the entrenched obstacles to doing anything about it. But it was difficult to determine how committed some of the national civil rights leaders actually were to doing anything significant to change the equation. Where does it go from here?
It will be particularly interesting to see whether Rev. Sharpton can match his rhetoric with action. (The Memphis Commercial Appeal covered the panel here.) Sharpton, after the discussion had been kicking for a while, talked about how the education problem is so dire that we can no longer honor past alliances which existed to protect the status quo in education.