It is times of upheaval or great movements that produce great leaders. Not taking anything away from MLK who was a man of and for his time. He had the courage, determination, ambition and unique leadership talents to organize the civil rights movement and move it full steam ahead.

The mass civil rights movement died after the assassinations of the 1960s. People like Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, etc. tried to keep it alive by ‘institutionalizing’’ it. But it lost the vigor and forward-looking nature that had made it strong. The leadership became self-serving and narrow, reinforced by the media that constantly quoted out-dated civil rights ‘leaders’ for every story they ran on “Black America.” Meanwhile the black middle class grew, with a surge in blacks entering professions and reaching the CEO level of corporate America (Amex, Time, Merrill Lynch etc.)

In America today, the need is to bring together all the disparate factions of society. The US has problems now that transcend race but which all races are concerned about.

This is a period of upheaval. Obama never claims to be the inheritor of MLK. That would narrow what he is trying to do. He is building a coalition across race, gender and economic lines. He credits MLK and others for doing the hard labor that set the stage for him. But he is genuinely claiming leadership of the American people. He has broken through the box that would limit his influence to the black community alone.

Obama is no King. He doesn’t claim to be. He doesn’t want to be. He is responding to a vacuum of leadership needed for the times we live in now.