MLK’s Life and Death Cannot Be Reduced to a Sneaker

This week, one day after a federal holiday celebrating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, Nike announced a new sneaker in the LeBron XXIII collection: “Honor The King.” The shoe, which will retail for $210 in February, is the same turquoise hue as the Lorraine Motel in Memphis where Dr. King was shot and killed in 1968.

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This sneaker is not a tribute, rather, it is a symptom of how capitalism sanitizes and commodifies moral struggle. By collapsing Dr.