Simon, Thanks for posting this as well as the infamous "I Have A Dream" speech. It's rather unfortunate that those words are the only words many people know from this man's vast catalogue of speeches and writings. He truly was an amazing man. I think we should still be paying close attention to what he said.
Nikki > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, January 20, 2003 11:42 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Dubbed Placid, King's Militant Voice Is Revealed > > > DUBBED PLACID, KING's MILITANT VOICE IS REVEALED > > By Maynard Eaton > > > > All too often the media, political leaders and too many > historians miscast and misrepresent Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. > as merely a placid, non confrontational civil rights advocate who > was content to focus on integration. The world has been duped into > believing that the essence of Dr. King's message and mission is > embodied in his "I Have A Dream" speech. > > While that marketing ploy and characterization of Dr. King's work > and wizardry has made him a palatable folk hero, it has also skewed > the substance of the King saga. That personification fails to recognize > how this charismatic leader emerged as such a threat to America's economic > interests he had to be eliminated. Those who worked with and marched with > Dr. King say image-makers are attempting to sanitize this African American > icon. > > "Dr. King was a radical revolutionary," opines Georgia State > Representative Tyrone Brooks, formerly the national field director > for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. "White America > is trying to change the image of King so that our children and unborn > generations will not view the real King that we knew. Dr. King was > not someone who walked around dreaming all the time. Dr. King was > an activist and a true revolutionary." > > "He was always militant," says former SCLC President Dr. Joseph Lowery > of King. "Anybody who talks about staying off the buses and challenging > folk to walk is militant. Talking about public accommodations and the > denial of the voting rights; all that is militant. He was dynamically > and actively militantly non-violent." > > Brooks contends that Dr. King was assassinated because > he was about to redirect the civil rights movement into > another dimension -- economic parity. > > "White America decided that this man has certainly been a catalyst > in bringing about social change in terms of desegregation and voting > rights, but now this man is talking about altering the way America > does business and talking about a redistribution of American wealth > to the poor and the disenfranchised," Brooks said. "It really upset > America." > > Says Dr. Lowery of the discernable shift in Dr. King's thinking and > leadership; "The movement moved away from the customer side of the > lunch counter to the cash register side. People who were willing > to deal with segregation and busing and lunch counters were not > quite ready to deal with economic integration. And so he died. > They didn't care about niggas riding the bus, but when you talk > about owning the banks and dividing the pie up, that's another > proposition. You're talking about a seat at the economic table > and even today there is pretty stiff resistance [to that]." > > During the first decade of the civil rights movement, > Martin Luther King, Jr. had been hesitant to become involved > in other political issues, for fear of weakening the cause for > racial justice. By 1967, however in a speech at Riverside Church > in New York City that many considered momentous, he declared his > opposition to the Vietnam War. That speech; that moment amounted > to a paradigm shift for the movement and the man. > > "Peace and civil rights don't mix, [people] say," Dr. King said. > "Aren't you hurting the cause of your people, they ask. And when > I hear them, although I often understand the source of their concern, > I am nevertheless greatly saddened, for such questions mean that the > inquirers have not really known me, my commitment or my calling. > > "I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds > or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as Vietnam > continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, > destructive suction tube," Dr. King continued. "So I was > increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor > and to attack it as such? We were taking the young Black men > who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8,000 miles > away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia, which they had not > found in Southwest Georgia and East Harlem." > > Both Lowery and Brooks say that after that controversial speech, > Black and White America took a different view of King. > > "The war was about economics as well as humanness," > Dr. Lowery argues. "Martin said 'the bombs that explode in Vietnam > in the '60s will explode in our economy in the '70s and '80s.' > And, it did." > > "[Dr. King] was roundly criticized by all the establishment > Black leadership. They all condemned Dr. King for that speech," > Rep. Brooks recalls. > > "They said he'd gone too far and that the movement ought not > get involved with foreign affairs. King said look at the amount > of money that is coming out the American taxpayers' pocket, > including Black people, that's financing this war. After that > speech, you saw the anti-war movement really grow, young, White > liberals and other civil rights leaders got on board. So, the > King speech at Riverside Church laid the foundation for that > overwhelming American response which said the war must end now." > > Brooks said it is most important and ultimately tragic that people > began to see Dr. King as just a civil rights leader who would focus > on domestic policy, not as international, global leader. Hopefully > future generations will recognize that his deeds and his direction > include far more than just his dream of integration. > > > > > > andmoreagain, > ------------ > simon
