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ANOTHER KING HAS FALLEN
Mel B. King (1928-2023)
Mel King was a warrior of justice, struggle and reconciliation. He was a great learner and innovator. It is extraordinary he died at 94 which proves that we as human beings must keep ourselves in motion until the end. King was restless and steady: he had many jobs and positions. Woke always started with knowledge, teaching, training and finally, the practical means to support (a job) yourself and your family.
The central key to King’s life was becoming a human rights advocate. King started off in the fervor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights, Black Power and Black Renaissance Movements and the most important movement: ordinary people using the foundation of faith and various tools to challenge governments. Mel King was a big part of extending democracy to under-serviced communities taping also the voices of regular people in the communities. He started with his own community, Boston SouthEnd and pushed out to other communities to seek negotiation between equality and peace. King placed that principle of community organizing and development inside the guts of the voices and actions of local communities; community-centered philosophies.
Mel King understood vision and long-strategy for his people, community participation, Boston, Massachusetts and the world. That is the great lesson of his life. A human rights advocate do all the human things whether being a teacher to being a director to running for School Commottee or Mayor or being a state representative for ten years from 1973 to 1982 to working with boycotts and protests. Being a co-founder of SouthEnd Technology Center ( ) with the aim of teaching and training about new technology and job instruction was his last great civic contribution to Boston and Massachusetts.
The pouring of love and the great homages from Boston and all over the world is well-deserving. A big strong tree has fallen in 2023. A man who was a born learner and wanted communities to be learners.
Mel King became a transformative leader.
A civil rights icon; no he was a human rights icon. We will not allow you to restrict his advocacy of freedom. He was for freedom of any unfree people in their country or any other country.
-The Anonymous and Brilliant Author
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