Dr King (1967):
'A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defence than on progammes of social uplift is approaching spiritual death'.Mirror on America:
What Would Dr Martin Luther King Think About What Was Going On In The World Today?:'He basically told us 4 decades ago... we were just a little late arriving to the show. If we would just listen to these Prophets when they are here sounding the alarm ... Many of the things that King spoke of 4 decades ago, we see today. It is a combination of things not changing, and King being way ahead of his time, foretelling issues and threats decades ago that we are now seeing develop today in our lifetimes...'Dr King:
'Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it’s nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today...'
right now i'm thinking 'thank fuck he's dead' cause had he lived, he'd have surely lost his mind in the 70s after feeling
the glimmerings of hope thanks to our nation's
baby step forward, then being blown away by despair when the political pendulum was forced to swing back cause
Reagan's henchmen pulled the 2nd Big Lie over our purposely blind eyes. very unfortunately when this shit went down, like the honorable Southern gentleman he is, President Carter took the damn high road just 20 years before President Gore did the same (and just look what happened to him). :-(
all i can say as to what Dr King might think had he lived is LOL, where to begin? selling arms to Saddam in the 80s thus paving the way to our glorious most excellent Middle Eastern Adventure? the rise of amerikan white power and worse yet, Racial Profiling, Reverse Discrimination and the death of
Affirmative Action programmes? which, IMO, is one of the stupidest, most vile ideas of the last half of the 20th Century, yet another blot on all that 'land of the free' propaganda.
on a more personal level, i believe he'd find most crucial the percentage of black and brown soldiers from poverty-stricken ghettoes fighting for US on the frontlines in Iraq compared to the percentage of white University-educated officers in Today's Armed and Air-Conditioned Forces. Can you imagine Dr King attending all those funerals and spending his weekends at Walter Reed Hospital? i can. the preznit? not so much.
in another scenario, the hypocrisy might've given poor Dr King a heart attack and there y'go -- problem solved: no more would the embarrassing spectacle of a highly regarded Civil Rights Leader and nationally known pacifist be seen attending the funerals of soldiers whilst the preznit played golf at Camp David.
truthdig:
'Saddled with a costly and senseless war, on the precipice of a recession, suffering from bitter division, America would do well to remember the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Though we pause annually to recognize his greatness, we often forget that he was vehemently opposed to war, that his government actively tried to marginalize him and that he was shot while campaigning against poverty...
'...Think, then, what “I have a dream” really means. It is all-embracing and for all humanity, not just the US of fuckin’ A...'y'don't say! but way back when, Martin Luther King Day meant nothing more than a day off work (for some), huge department store sales (Dr King's Winter Close-Out!) and some bullshit Brotherhood-themed specials on network TV. way back when, when this first became a holiday, i was working for the wealthiest entertainment attorneys on the East Coast. there were two black employees: Barry and Thomas, the messengers. no, wait; there were three including a breathtakingly beautiful light-skinned secretary called Paris who wanted to be a singer and with whom most of the attorneys cheated on their wives. anyway, Barry and Thomas were really nice dudes; every lunch hour found us walking down Fifth Avenue sharing a joint.
sometimes Paris came along but she was like, only there when she wasn't being wined and dined by whichever attorney's clients. Thomas and Barry were both goodlooking and intelligent; they were working days to earn their degrees at Fordham University at night. my point is, Thomas, Barry and Paris all took off on the first Martin Luther King Day (knowing by whom we were employed, none of the whites, including yours truly, had the balls to do the same).
guess what? when the three returned to work next day, they all got shitcanned. they called Paris back at the end of the week, but that was the last i saw of Thomas and Barry.
bummer about your dream, Dr King.
editor's note: since i don't bother reading American news anymore, i totally forgot MLK Day last week (18. january); i guess this is just one more fucked holiday i'm pleased to give a miss, so as not be forced to endure the one-day hypocrisy and all the lip service emblazoned in headlines all across the nation. once again, i'm glad he's dead, really pleased to know he's not seeing his nightmare. dream. whatever.
'..."I Have A Dream" is a great speech but it's not his greatest work. But America often uses I Have A Dream to try and sanitise King and box him into being a Civil Rights / Racial Equality Leader. The fact is, between 1965 and 1968, King was the leading anti-war voice and leading voice for economic equality in the country...
'...This is the part of King's history that is hardly ever told. It's the part of his history that America tries to smother every year when the nation goes through its so called "remembrance" ... If they really wanted to honor King they would rewrite the school books to tell the true story about his efforts. He was not just a civil rights leader. If they wanted to honor him, they would try to live up to his vision ... a vision that went beyond race and civil rights. Peace was at the heart of his struggle...'anyway, late as always, but on with the show.
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racial harmony? in the 21st century's version of amerika? take a good, hard look at New Orleans today, more than two years after Hurricane Katrina, and you'll see the only district rebuilt is that belonging to way wealthy businessmen, landowners and multi-nationals. y'know -- the NOLA power elite
'hood, the one with all the touri$t attraction$.
i forget the name of the actual Ward and too lazy and depressed to Google out of fear the old memories will come flooding back -- and i do mean 'flooding'. it was during Katrina when i'd wake up at 05,00, sneak out of bed, shut the living room door so Chris wouldn't be bothered and turn on BBC News. then came the tears when i'd compare what they were showing to that which was on Stateside TV News. and then, instead of joining Chris for coffee, i'd continue drinking my ass off.
the huge contradictions in British, European and American reportage (and i use that term loosely) got me boozing it up early, each and every morning. just about the time Chris had showered and was ready for his first coffee, i was typing like a mad man and trying to hide the tears. by the time he was ready to split for work, i was at the point at which i forced my left eye shut in order to see straight. to Chris' credit, he said nothing but raised one of his way fine eyebrows when he kissed me G'bye every morning.
looking on the bright side (hah!) it was thanks to bu$hCo's non-response t0 Katrina that caused me to create my most fave lethal drink ever: cVcV: crushed Valiums sprinkled liberally over chilled Vodka (and make sure you pulverise at least five 10s -- the blue ones -- cause they really numb your ass). but once again, i digress.
i dig thinking that if Dr King were still alive, he'd have repeated this but about the last eight years:
'A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan'.but would anybody listen? i mean, i know, you know, we all know but
they don't know. um, uhhh...
'Houston, we've got a problem'.moving right along, yup, i joke wid Teh Kitteh above: we can haz racial harmony? not while Stumbley mcBruisey's holding the reins of his imaginary horsie (otherwise known in Texass Tawk as Teh Gub'mint).
sorry, people. i totally besmirched this post by including mention of the preznit and his henchmen.
about Dr King?
'When history’s done, what will be left are books and books of quotes and bios of famous orators whose visions we revered but otherwise ignored...'
AFAIC, he's very sadly missed and very much needed more so now than ever before. and unfortunately for US, he's totally forgotten every other day of the year (apart from 4. april, the anniversary of the day he was assassinated). but i still hold onto the essence of his dream, which, since i was a kid, has totally been my own. my fave bit of the 'I Have A Dream Speech' (28. august 1963):
'I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character'.that was over 40 years ago and it still ain't happening, neither for Dr King's children nor for any other child of color nor for any child of the poverty-stricken cause just like most blacks, the poor don't count either. and the meek ain't gonna inherit shit, but that's a whole 'nother story.
RIP, Dr King. if i had my way, every damn day would be Martin Luther King Day.