This weekend and
today were filled with commemorations of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
All over the place were musical events, readings, portrayals of his
life, and other nice events.
Anything to sanitize
his life so that it fits in nicely with what the power elite, aka
the 1%, want us to believe about him. They want us to remember the
man that had the powerful speech at the March on Washington. They
want us to remember the Birmingham Bus Boycott and the Letter form a
Birmingham Jail.
When he expanded
what was meant by civil rights, the door slammed in his face.
I want that MLK.
I want the man that
spoke out after the March on Washington.
I want the Man that
spoke out against economic injustice. The man that spoke out and
fought for the right to unionize. The man that fought for a decent
wage and benefits for the average working man and woman. Whether
they were African American, Hispanic, Asian, White – MLK didn't
care. Where he saw the poor and downtrodden, that is who he fought
for.
And a word about the
poor whites: We need to be as concerned for them as for any other
poor person. Why? Who do you think is filling the ranks of the
“Army of Trump,” as one of my associates calls it. MLK wouldn't
have cared. If their needs were met, Trump and the other right wing
demagogues would have no base. Fox would be dead, as well as all
that AM talk radio slander.
I see the spirit of
MLK in $15 NOW!
I see the spirit of
MLK in the people that demonstrated in airports across the USA today
demanding union rights and benefits.
I see the spirit of
MLK in BUILD of Buffalo.
Let us remember –
he was assassinated right before going to support strike by
sanitation workers.
I want the man that
spoke out against mindless wars against people that did no harm to
us.
MLK spoke out
against the war in Vietnam to a nearly empty church in NYC. As long
as he was on a civil rights kick, he was OK. He did not want to see
the poor of this nation uses as cannon fodder against people in
foreign lands. He was opposed to mindless wars.
I see the spirit of
MLK in the American Friends Service Committee as they work for peace
in Iraq, Afghanistan, Cambodia, and other war torn places. Helping
enemies come together and see each other as human beings and ending
conflict and bringing peace to people that only knew war.
I see the spirit of
ML in Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and other
groups that are fighting against the mindless wars that we are
engaged in.
I see the spirit of
MLK in every protester against drone warfare – the senseless murder
from above of so many innocent civilians.
I want the MLK that
spoke out against police and state brutality. He knew what it was.
He experienced it all too many times in his life.
I see the spirit of
MLK in #BlackLivesMatter
I hear it load and
clear.
MLK said that he
went to the mountaintop and saw the other side.
He said that he
might not get there with us.
He will be there
with us in spirit.
I want to be a part
of the generation that gets to the other side.
Let's remember the
man with our words.
We'll remember him
better with our deeds.
Update: 1/22/2106
Truthout: "Reclaim MLK: Beyond Sanitized Narratives"
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/34444-reclaim-mlk-beyond-sanitized-narratives
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