Happy Birthday, Dr. King
Two quotes from http://www.mlkonline.net/quotes.html
The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty. Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967.
We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart. Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963.
And another site of interest: http://www.mlkday.gov/
The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty. Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967.
We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart. Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963.
And another site of interest: http://www.mlkday.gov/
posted by Mendi Obadike at 2:28 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks Mendi, for this, I was getting a little cynical about the King image pulsing through the media pipeline. Actually, I had been thinking about the attempts to have a Civil Rights Holiday. I imagine such framing would have enabled broader discussions of King's vision and the impact of Civil Rights accomplishments on other human rights movements in the US and elsewhere.
Hey, Mendi--
Thanks for pointing out the fact of white privilege on WOM-PO. While the issue may be bruising to some who considered themselves completely openminded, it was one that needed raising.
I think there's perhaps also a generational difference there. Those of us who were the children for whom Dr. King dreamed benefit from a completely different (and perhaps more aware on some levels) take on race and poverty in this country than our parents who fought (or learned to fight) before us.
I'm hoping that both race and gender become more conversant in each other's realities in our lifetime.
Best,
Robin
audiologo: You know, I have a hard time hearing the "I Have A Dream Speech". I know I don't really understand it because I wasn't born when he said it. I also have trouble with the way it's used and with the way it's reduced to those words. I was so shocked to find myself moved when I actually read his work as an adult. Why We Can't Wait is interesting to me as a philosophical project, awesome (as in something that makes me drop my jaw) as a political work that works, and also quite poetic. Where is King as the figure who brought all these things together on the King Holiday? Not to mention the power of the people, but that, I suppose, is another story.
nolapoet, thanks for your words, here and in backchannel. I had to give the women's poetry list a little break. I only thought I was making a little point, not giving the lesson I would really give if I wanted to hold court -- I mean, have class. In any case, I will email again when I have time to make my way through all that stuff. I don't have the time or energy at the moment.
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