The present is a gift

[Mark A Becker]

Was MLK a radical? Much less than the Bolshevik, so hard to see it that way now, but maybe for white America back in the day he was a revolutionary

Even some black leaders viewed him as too strident, and divisive: the link below gives insight as to how MLK took it from all sides:
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/...ot-214637/

While I mostly agree with the statement you offered to start this discussion, I still believe that "superior" is highly subjective.  It's easier to identify crappy poetry of yesteryear because we simply don't have access to most of what may have been written, much less spoken. 

I am quite sure, that as inventive as humans are, that some great, very early poems/stories have long since been lost to time. Our modern access is now our measure of superiority.  (Even though the floodgates of modern communication systems have also passed a considerable amount of sewage). 

Good topic to explore, busker.  Thanks.