Breaking the Betrayal of Silence

Denver will hold its annual "Marade" to commemorate MLK day. It's one of the largest gatherings in the nation. It starts at East High and goes down Colfax, one of the busiest avenues in the city. Eventually the parade/march will end up at Civic Center Park, the park where Occupy Denver was evicted by riot squads with pepper spray and tear gas. Ironic. The parade is run by self important politicians and their minions along with a good number of the religious community. No Occupy speaker will speak. No feminist will speak. No revolutionary will speak. No young anarchist will speak. No Black Panther will speak.


When the parade came to an end the last time I marched a few years back there were tables set up by "sponsors". Two in particular caught my eye: the Denver Public Safety Department and an insurance company notorious in New Orleans for unethical practices of not paying claims of the Katrina survivors. The Denver Public Safety Department is the DPD and DFD. The same Denver police responsible for pepper spraying and assaulting the peaceful Occupy Denver group. The same police notorious for brutality throughout the black and brown communities of Denver. Irony, once again.

I also came to realize the religious community of Denver fails in their understanding of Dr. King's message. Time and again the majority of the interfaith council here in Denver has had opportunity to speak out against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. To object to the loss of life. To voice outrage against the billions spent on death and violence at the expense of programs for the poor. Time and again they've failed to make a stand against the greed and fraud by the masters of war making billions off the blood of millions. And, yet, the same religious community takes advantage of Dr. King's day to make themselves important as speakers praising his life.

Christians around the nation are praying for a miracle today. They pray for a football player's victory because he professes his faith every day in every way. I don't hate this player. I actually enjoy his play. But for all his profession of faith, I've yet to hear him object to the wars. The same can be said for the greatest majority of NFL, NBA, MLB players. A large number of the players are black. They give praise to the life of Dr. King but don't mention some of the core values he challenged us all to have. They don't mention the wars.

The charade on Monday will be attended by Occupy members and others who are part of a local resistance against the madness of our times. They won't have much support. I question if the religious will ever find the courage to speak out publicly against the spiritual death Dr. King mentioned in his Riverside Church address in April 1967. I question if those who declare themselves followers of Christ so publicly so frequently will have the courage to speak out as Dr. King spoke out. To break the betrayal of silence Dr. King was compelled to break.