Heroism presumes “humanity.” Black candidates for heroism in the United States, however, must often overcompensate for the presumed sub-humanity imposed upon them by the American popular imaginary. By way of an illustration, consider the instructive case of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who, arguably, attains the status of (Black) American Hero in spite of his Blackness. Through a unique account of the life of Dr. King, I will argue that King attains the requisite overcompensation necessary for (Black) American heroism by becoming what João Costa Vargas and Joy James call a Baldwinian Cyborg, a “super human with unnatural capacities to suffer and love.” I will present, here, a literary narrative that weaves speculative fiction into the interstices of the historical record in order to contend that the Black Cyborg is necessary in a world where white Americans are “human” but Black citizens remain aspirations.

This is a continuation of a lengthy article, the first half of which appeared in the previous issue of The Acorn, Vol, XV, No. 1, Winter-Spring 2014.

Those who accept a philosophy of non-violence akin to that advocated by Mahatma Gandhi commonly think of their stance as being in line with (if not actually called for) by the demands of love. It has not been hard for commentators to offer scenarios that present problems for this assumption. In what follows I will argue that such problems are overcome by Gandhi because he insists that the love required by nonviolence should be construed as universal, non-discriminating, and selfless in the widest sense—agape in its fullness. I will further show that problems presented for the view that Gandhian non-violence fits with and follows the demands of love exist for us, Gandhi holds, only in so far as we have not fully realized they type of love discussed here.