(ThyBlackMan.com) This Valentine’s Day 2016 I participated in a 1.7 mile “Love Walk” in Atlanta to stand up against “black on black” crime, organized by Rev. Ben Stellmacher and Sunshine Lewis. The weather was cold and the streets were hard yet hundreds of people came out to participate because they are tired of “black on black” crime. Aren’t you? There were 20 hearses that drove amidst the crowd as we silently brought attention to one of the main problems killing our people – our own people.
The Atlanta Police Department participated, pastors attended, the daughter of the late Rev. Hosea Williams (Elizabeth Omilami) spoke. It was befitting that the rally at the end of the walk took place across the street from the King Center and yes the news media was present. Mary Norwood, Atlanta City Council Member, came out and humbly walked the entire walk. The organizer (Rev. Stellmacher) walked as far as he could then pulled out his wheelchair and kept on going. Then, with the strength of his cause and the power of the people, he walked the rest of the way. That 
brought tears to my eyes – tears of gratitude, tears of power, tears of hope, tears of resolve and commitment.
These heroes walked for you and your family on Valentine’s Day.
The organizers dug deep into their own pockets to make this happen and I was honored to take part in another quiet but impacting phase of our history. Sadly, not one African American City Council Member participated. The African American Mayor of Atlanta was nowhere to be found. The Nation of Islam was absent. Not one of the children of Martin Luther King Jr. could be seen anywhere. None of the African American County Commissioners showed up. Mega-church pastors like Creflo Dollar must have been “too busy“. Youth groups that needed to be there did not attend, but a few young children under the age of 12 pulled the “Stop The Violence” banner in front of the procession and that was a testimony to all of us. Why? Because children like those who pulled the banner are children who will change this nation.
So this article is dedicated to all of the unsung heroes of the African American community past and present – those too busy building up our people to stop and try to make a name for themselves. Those who reach deep in their pockets to make things happen. Those who walk in the cold, in the rain and on the hard streets of our cities. Those who were arrested for the cause but had nobody to bail them out. Those who participated in the civil rights movement, even behind the scenes, and who continue to fight for your rights today – even when you don’t. Those who are never too busy when you seem to be. Those unsung heroes who lost their lives, jeopardized their health and paved the way for Martin Luther King Jr., President Obama and so many others.
Overstanding the message of Martin Luther King Jr. is more than just bearing his name, celebrating his holiday or commemorating his progress. It is about action here and now!
Many of our African American heroes were absolutely essential to the foundation of all we have accomplished in America. But we will never know their names nor even read about them in text books. Yet their sacrifices were just as great as those whose names we remember and those whose holidays we celebrate. We must light a candle for these unsung African American heroes and they must never be forgotten. So this week, as you read this article, light a candle for them and leave it burning.
To get involved in the movement against “black on black” crime, email us at atlantacrimecommission@yahoo.com and we will help you.
But the real question is what are you doing to make your community better, stronger and a better place for your family, the future and your people? Or are you too busy? Every other ethnic group on this planet has a sense of attachment, connection, responsibility, solidarity and accountability to its community. We can easily see this with the Caucasian people, the Hispanics, the Arabs, the Jewish and the Indian people. It’s time for our people to return back to doing the same. But if we stay divided, self-seeking and egocentric, we will be together in the worse way – we will fall together, live in oppression together, destroy each other together and be exterminated together.
This article is to acknowledge all those whose names we will never know, to say thank you. To say keep going. To say we honor your commitment and your sacrifice. To say there are a great many of us who will never forget you and how you made a difference. To say we know you were there and that you honorably stood in the gap for those who could not or would not. To say we honor you.
Staff Writer; Marque-Anthony
