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Martin Luther King Jr

Remember Direct Action As Part Of Dr. King’s Legacy

January 14, 2018 Anton Woronczuk, www.therealnews.com , ,
By Anton Woronczuk for the Real News. Well, Dr. King was involved in a whole range of activities in the five years that separated the March on Washington and his assassination. And yet these years have been excised. It's kind of like an assassination, a stealing of his life, a putting a cap on it, ending, somehow, in 1963, very conveniently. Dr. King was part of the changes of the '60s, but he was also changed by them, not necessarily changed in terms of his internal makeup, his worldview, but in terms of the range of topics that he as a Baptist minister thought that he could address. So everybody's familiar with the "I Have a Dream" speech. It's almost anodyne. But back in 1959--I'm going to read something to you that Dr. King wrote in a presentation. This is a dream that he had four years before his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Teachers At A Crossroads: Time To Heed Dr. King’s Call

August 10, 2017 Craig Gordon, www.livingindialogue.com , , ,
By Craig Gordon for Living In Dialogue - Promoters of so-called school reform frequently exhort educators to “teach with urgency.” This slogan trumpets their supposed determination to immediately achieve educational equity without funding equitable teaching and learning conditions. Two presidential mandates—Bush’s No Child Left Behind and Obama’s Race to the Top—proclaimed this righteous resolve while severely damaging public education. Now President Trump and Education Secretary DeVos plan to accelerate the destruction with more charters and vouchers or tax credits to pay for private schools. The real urgency we face today is to finally address the systemic causes of inequality—in and beyond schools–and other interconnected threats to human survival, as Martin Luther King Jr. implored fifty years ago. With the scientific consensus on climate change and a renewed and growing threat of nuclear war, the urgency is far more evident today. Here is a key question for those of us focused on finally achieving educational justice: What would it take to provide all students with high quality education?

Beyond Capitalism: A Revolution Of Values

January 17, 2016 Nancy Price, www.thealliancefordemocracy.org , , , , , ,
By Nancy Price, for the Alliance for Democracy. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most revolutionary 1967 speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” marked his movement, from civil rights to a critique of capitalism, a year before he died. Looking “beyond Vietnam,” King questioned a US policy of interventions in foreign countries to defeat not only “Communist tyranny,” but any opposition to the corporate-capitalist system of imperialism and oppression that protects corporate interests and the wealth and power of the ruling classes. “When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people,” he said, “the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

Newsletter: Praise For The Radicals

March 22, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org , , , , , , ,
In his recent article, “The Dance of Liberals and Radicals”, the liberal Robert Kuttner writes, “No great social change in America has occurred without radicals, beginning with the struggle to end slavery. Causes that now seem mainstream began with radical, impolite and sometimes civil disobedient protest.” We at Popular Resistance share the view that there need to be people and groups who see the bigger picture, who fight for what is not on the table and who are willing to put their bodies on the line to make change. Those are the people we try to lift up in our daily coverage of the movement because they are rarely recognized and are usually lacking in resources. Yesterday we marched in Washington, DC for Spring Rising with our friends in the peace and Black Lives Matter movements.

Malcolm X’s Teachings Being Revived 50 Years After His Death

February 22, 2015 Sam P.K. Collins, www.thinkprogress.org , , , ,
Black Americans, many of whom have taken to the streets in protest in recent months, have evoked the spirit of Malcolm X by candidly expressing their frustration with what they consider an unfair criminal justice system and later refusing to retreat from the front lines, even when police officers threw tear gas and swatted batons their way. While the Black Lives Matter protests have largely emphasized nonviolent sit-ins in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr., Kymone Freeman, program director at independent DC-based media outlet We Act Radio, argued the movement should embrace some of Malcolm X’s more controversial teachings, like his call for aggressive self-defense. Freeman, who said he has read extensively about Malcolm X and Dr. King, implored Millennials to study Malcolm X’s life on their own because they won’t learn the true story of the civil rights icon in their classes, particularly his argument that black people have the right to defend themselves against those who try to physically harm them.

Newsletter: Our Task-The Future As A Frontier

January 24, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Sam Smith gave this talk, “On Becoming and Being an Activist,” at a teen conference. The essence of his message is that we are facing serious crises and we have to make a choice of whether we will act or not. We are on a dangerous path and it takes courage to see that and not be paralyzed into inaction. It is easier to ignore the truth and succumb to the many distractions in our lives. Smith writes: “It is this willingness to walk away from the seductive power of the present that first divides the mere reformer from the rebel — the courage to emigrate from one’s own ways in order to meet the future not as just a right but as a frontier.” Smith goes on to describe that traditional tools for social change, working within the system, are not effective in this time. We must raise our voices, do the unexpected and try the improbable. We need to use our passion, our energy, our magic and music to burst the illusion being hand fed to us in the media and taught in our schools.

Huge Turnout For Denver MLK Marade, Many New Faces

January 24, 2015 Staff, www.popularresistance.org , ,
Monday's celebration was bolstered by thousands of first-time participants, motivated to march by the protests over the deaths of black men at the hands of police. Activists said this year's parade was especially significant in the aftermath of the "black lives matter" movement. "We feel like we had to support the community and what they are trying to do," said Katie Larsen, who marched with her five young children and husband, all participating for their first time. "I want them to know it doesn't matter what the color of our skin is. We are all important parts of the community." "As far as we have come as a people, we still have a far way to go," said Nneka McPhee, who has attended the march for years and was with her children Monday.

Protesters Interrupt Alabama Governor’s Inauguration

January 23, 2015 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , ,
A group of citizens from Selma, Montgomery, and other cities and towns from around the state of Alabama interrupted Governor Robert Bentley’s inauguration address to sing “We Shall Overcome” and chant ‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬. The protest was organized by the Montgomery group Birthplace For Justice. “In Montgomery, the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, we’ve been far too quiet in seeking justice in our communities and in this country,” said Michael Eric Grant, a spokesman for the group. “We protested today because in addition to it being the inauguration, it’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We’re fighting to keep his dream of unity and justice alive. We hope that Governor Bentley will carry out his oath to office with a similar commitment.” “The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy of brotherhood, the normalcy of true peace, the normalcy of justice.” -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March, 1965

Thousands Rally Across The Nation To #ReclaimMLK

January 20, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , ,
Over 50 Cities Nationwide Rally Against Police Abuse and For Racial Justice on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Thousands of people across the country took to the streets to reclaim the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a radical who sought national transformation, not just voting rights for all but an end to militarism, challenged capitalism and an end to racism. Ferguson Action wrote “From here on, MLK weekend will be known as a time of national resistance to injustice.” Thousands of people took to the streets on Monday rebuking what they say is the "sanitized" version of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and calling to restore the legacy of a man whose protests, like their own, were never "convenient." The nationwide actions marked the birthday of the civil rights leader in a year that saw renewed calls for racial justice in the face of persistent inequality, discrimination, and police targeting of communities of color. Capping off almost a week of demonstrations, organizational meetings, and other pledges of resistance—all done with the intent to "Reclaim MLK"—grassroots coalition Ferguson Action issued a specific call for Monday: "Do as Martin Luther King would have done and resist the war on Black Lives with civil disobedience and direct action. Take the streets, shut it down, walk, march, and whatever you do, take action."

From Selma To Citizens United: Struggle For One Person, One Vote

January 18, 2015 Chris Kromm, www.southernstudies.org , , , , ,
The 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches -- and the brutal backlash to them from Alabama state troopers -- galvanized national support for the Voting Rights Act, changing the balance of power in the South. Building on years of local organizing, "roughly a million new voters were registered within a few years after the [Voting Rights Act] became law," says historian Alexander Keyssar in his seminal book "The Right to Vote," "with African-American registration soaring to a record 62 percent." While Selma and the Voting Rights Act strengthened the voice of ordinary voters, Citizens United has heightened the power of mega-rich donors. By opening the treasuries of companies, unions and other groups to limitless political spending, the decision has fueled a spending spree on elections, especially by outside groups not tied to a candidate. According to a new report by the Brennan Center, outside spending in U.S. Senate races has doubled since 2010, to more than $486 million in 2014.

Newsletter: What It Means To #ReclaimMLK

January 16, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , , , ,
This week, in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, people around the country are organizing actions to #ReclaimMLK as the true person he was; one that recognized the roots of the crises being experienced and who made connections between many issues. Dr. King was a critic of capitalism, racism and imperialism. He said: “When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” Dr. King called for a “revolution of values,” meaning a shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. A new generation of young activists is embracing the radical Dr. King and rejecting the watered-down version presented in major media. We have no doubt that Dr. King would be part of the movement for social, economic and environmental justice. Many of us are already working on the issues of Dr. King, in many ways we have already reclaimed him.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Democratic Synthesis: United Americanism?

April 7, 2014 Caleb Jacobo, www.nationofchange.org ,
“Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social. And the kingdom of brotherhood is neither in the thesis in communism nor the antithesis of capitalism, but lies in a higher synthesis. […] The problem of racism, economic exploitation, and war, are all interrelated.” —Martin Luther King Jr. Where Do We Go From Here? On this day while we recall the great Martin Luther King Jr., let us be careful not to treat him only as a historical caricature of the American Civil Rights Movement. We must remember such a grand man, not in the broad batter’s strokes, but with all the delicate attention to his brilliant nuance as the draughtsman’s outline. His passion extended to all people in the nation. And in the years before he was assassinated he made a passionate call for a theory of democratic synthesis, combining the necessities of American capitalism with the man’s natural desire for relationship, while not only maintaining our nation’s ideologies, but engendering, and empowering them to their full potential. This synthesis is what I will attempt to present for you today in what I call United Americanism.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

January 23, 2014 Kathy Kelly, , www.truth-out.org
On the same day they learned of the King Center’s call, the young members of the Afghan Peace Volunteers, in a home I was sharing with them in Kabul, were grieving the fresh news of seven Afghan children and their mother, killed in the night during a U.S. aerial attack — part of a battle in the Siahgird district of the Parwan province. The outrage, grief, loss and pain felt in Siahgird were echoed, horribly, in other parts of Afghanistan during a very violent week. My young friends, ever inspired by Dr. King’s message, prepared a Dr. King Day observance as they shared bread and tea for breakfast. They talked about the futility of war and the predictable cycles of revenge that are caused every time someone is killed. Then they made a poster listing each of the killings they had learned of in the previous seven days.

Portland MLK Rally Honors More Radical King

January 21, 2014 Pete Shaw, www.portlandoccupier.org , ,
On Friday January 17th, over 150 supporters of people without housing and day laborers marched to Portland City Hall to demand the City Council live up to King’s vision of a truly compassionate society, one that does not require some people to live in impoverished conditions, while others reap the rewards of avarice. The boisterous crowd called on City leadership to start acting on behalf of all people in the city, not just the business interests. Day laborers and people without housing have been under attack by the City. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Laborer Center, which serves as a safe place off the street where employers and workers can contract for daily work, and also provides classes to help people improve their work and language skills finds itself on unstable ground.

Dr. King: Beyond The Dreamer, A Personal Story

January 20, 2014 Gar Alperovitz, www.sojo.net , ,
IN THE LAST YEAR of his life, Martin Luther King Jr. struggled with what are best understood as existential challenges as he began to move toward an ever-more-profound and radical understanding of what would be required to deal with the nation’s domestic and international problems. The direction he was exploring, I believe, is far more relevant to the realities we now face than many have realized—or have wanted to realize. I first met King in 1964 at the Democratic Party’s national convention held that year in Atlantic City—the occasion of an historic challenge by the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) to the racially segregated and reactionary Mississippi Democratic Party. I was then a very young aide working for Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.
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