Defined:
over-served, broken, emotionally wrong, morally damaged
In a sentence:
“She’s fucked up, no more tequila for Barb.”
“They really fucked up that election.”
You have, no doubt, spent today seeing the same handful of MLK quotes and memes about content of character and being peaceful. As the holiday comes to a close, let me add one more!
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
My favorite quote at the King Memorial in D.C., it’s etched into stone on the north wall. The quote is from his published sermons in 1963’s Strength to Love. The book is important from a historical and moral point of view.
During an era when races weren’t suppose to mingle, it was the first time White Americans had ample access to read sermons from a Black American preacher. Instead of learning about King’s beliefs through the slant of media and very loud racists, people could read his own words. The impact changed the national narrative, and helped get the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964.
What does any of that have to do with the expression Fucked Up?
Most important, it’s Fucked Up that King was treated like a criminal by our government and murdered. As far as the quote, King was pointing out that the value of behavior matters most during Fucked Up circumstances and difficult times in history.
What made King exceptionally dangerous to the status quo was his honesty. Not only about segregation and the lived reality of Black Americans, but also the evils of colonialism and militarism, the moral damages of bigotry and war, and, above all, how capitalist corruption fuels such things.
Fucked Up is an accurate descriptor for the 1960s, a period of time when a significant number of Americans died. With the Vietnam War going on in the background, civil rights leaders were routinely assassinated. Medgar Evers in June and JFK in November of ‘63; the Freedom Riders in ‘64; Malcolm X in ‘65; MLK in April and Bobby Kennedy in June of ‘68; and Fred Hampton in ‘69.
Many people dying, and the U.S. appearing incapable of nonviolence, overseas or at home? Sounds a lot like our current world.
When I talk with friends about how the last president and pandemic changed our national culture, we tend to agree that it amplified existing traits and core values. It’s not so much that people changed, but rather they became more of who they already were.
Folks who are kind hearted and helpful became more compassionate and action oriented. Folks who are selfish and apathetic became more greedy and cruel. Usually masked by social expectations and hidden by the hustle of fast living, the deep beliefs of individuals came to the forefront as life slowed down.
People showed us who they are, and much of it wasn’t pretty. The lack of fortitude and resiliency among many groups of Americans took center stage, as minor conveniences twisted into mole-hill mountains against a backdrop of mass death. One of my favorite expressions that came out of the pandemic sums up the situation well:
This isn’t a hill you’re dying on, it’s a pile of dog shit.
It's Fucked Up that so many of our nation’s people don’t care about over a million dead. It’s Fucked Up that mass shootings and murder are on the rise. And it’s Fucked Up that for every murder, nearly two Americans end their own life.
Much like the 1960s, this period of history will be remembered for turmoil, violence, and mass death.
But, also like the ‘60s, there’s still hope and still good people. In a difficult world, good people are a saving grace. No matter how Fucked Up relationships, situations, culture, or reality becomes, there has been, and will always exist, goodness in human form. Not perfection, not without flaw and faults, but deep humanity and understanding for how difficult being alive can be.
Despite ongoing, glaring Fucks Ups, people still have much potential. And that’s something we can work with.
To close, a good movie. You can watch MLK/FBI on Hulu, or rent it, for a very reasonable 0.99, on many streaming platforms.