In "Drum Major Instinct," King speaks about humble servitude and what it means to prioritize love and community over leadership’s spotlight. Toward the end of the speech, he imagines his funeral, what he wants it to be like, and how he wishes to be remembered.
"If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don't want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long," he said. King didn't want them to mention his Nobel Peace Prize or that he had attended Morehouse. Those things didn't matter to him.
"I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody." Popular culture tries to sanitize and appropriate Dr. King's mission. His mission was to serve his people.
King believed in doing what was best for all of us to get free. Most importantly, he realized that work was required in the present, even if he didn’t see liberation in his lifetime "..so that we can make of this old world, a new world."
We’re building upon an ancestral foundation. With every new brick, we’re bettering Black futures. Even when we can’t always see it, the work is worth doing.