I am out of school today for Martin Luther King Jr Day today. Great, I love Dr. King, and I am home all day, time for a good History Channel marathon right? Civil Rights from Douglass and Tubman and then, during prime time, we get to see Dr. King lead the United States out of the ignorance of the past and into the future. You know that stuff we get to see sometimes during Black History Month. So I firs up the old TV and turn it to 38 for History. "Houdini: Unlocking the Mystery" greets me. No way right? Well I fire up MeeVee to look at the guide for the day. Most important man of the 20th century, gotta be some sweet news specials right? At all, today, right? Nope, apparently President Bush wants us to volunteer today. That would be great, but honestly I have to clean the house because school starts tomorrow, and I want to honor Dr. King's memory by watching a marathon of the American Black Experience. Then I notice "Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: The Making of a Dream" at two in the afternoon. Good to know that at 2 in the afternoon, for a half hour, I can TiVo Dr. King. Then continue to hope that Barack Obama will run for President in 2008. It has been 60 years since Dr. King had his dream and rightfully we have a holiday on his birthday. This is a day to honor him, Mr. President; lets volunteer to spend time with our families today, teaching our children about what Dr. King gave my generation. We can watch any number of marathons, from "Walker Texas Ranger" on USA to "My super sweet sixteen." on MTV. BET offers it's usual lineup of Rap and Comedy. I want knowledge, so i finally check for prime time History specials. Looks like there is one at 9. It is described by MeeVee as:
"A probe into the "Jonestown" mass suicide in Guyana in November 1978 that also included the murder of Congressman Leo Ryan, who visited the Jim Jones complex to investigate it. Included: interviews with survivors, reenactments and archival footage."
Sounds great, CNN special maybe? Nope, maybe Cafferty will mention it. Maybe John Stewert or Leno will get a joke in tonight about the complete lack of King on his day on Basic Cable in Richmond Kentucky. Reverend Sharpton should say something. O'Reilly most likely wont over on Fox. They are still busy getting the intern to releace the OJ book on IRC. Coretta is gone, why isn't there a special about the entire King legacy? The networks do not get it either. ABC has a new "Wife Swap" if you do not want to watch the new "24." The "Golden Globes" are on NBC! CBS offers new episodes of their top rated shows: "The Class" and "The New Adventures of Old Christine."
Well, at least there is a "Star Trek: Enterprise" marathon on Sci-Fi. It, at least, offers us a view of the future that I can get behind. I hope. I have not seen "Enterprise" yet. Can anyone tell me if it holds up? sigh-I am going to mail this to NAACP:
To who it may concern,
Can you please say something about the History Channel's lack of Black History programming. Can we please get a 2 hour special on the lives of the King family to honor them on his day next year?
Hope all is well - Ray Arnold
Maybe they can say something.
