Liberty - an ideal for which many have fought and died, including Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement.[1] He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.[2] King is often presented as a heroic leader in the history of modern American liberalism.[3]"
Did you know this?
"Martin Luther King Jr. expressed a view that black Americans, as well as other disadvantaged Americans, should be compensated for historical wrongs. In an interview conducted for Playboy in 1965, he said that granting black Americans only equality could not realistically close the economic gap between them and whites.
King said that he did not seek a full restitution of wages lost to slavery, which he believed impossible, but proposed a government compensatory program of US$50 billion over ten years to all disadvantaged groups.
He posited that "the money spent would be more than amply justified by the benefits that would accrue to the nation through a spectacular decline in school dropouts, family breakups, crime rates, illegitimacy, swollen relief rolls, rioting and other social evils".[71]
He presented this idea as an application of the common law regarding settlement of unpaid labor but clarified that he felt that the money should not be spent exclusively on blacks.
He stated, "It should benefit the disadvantaged of all races".[72]"
How about this?
"King began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation. Towards the time of his murder, King more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice.[97]
Though his public language was guarded, so as to avoid being linked to communism by his political enemies, in private he sometimes spoke of his support for democratic socialism.
In one speech, he stated that "something is wrong with capitalism" and claimed, "There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism."[98]
King had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected "traditional capitalism," he also rejected Communism because of its "materialistic interpretation of history" that denied religion, its "ethical relativism," and its "political totalitarianism."[99]
King also stated in his "Beyond Vietnam" speech that "true compassion is more
than flinging a coin to a beggar....it comes to see that an
edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring".[100] King quoted a United States official, who said that, from Vietnam to South America to Latin America, the country was "on the wrong side of a world revolution."[100] King condemned America's "alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America," and said that the United States should support "the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.[101]"
than flinging a coin to a beggar....it comes to see that an
edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring".[100] King quoted a United States official, who said that, from Vietnam to South America to Latin America, the country was "on the wrong side of a world revolution."[100] King condemned America's "alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America," and said that the United States should support "the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.[101]"
What de-classified revelations will we have, if any, in 2027?
"On January 31, 1977, United States district Judge John Lewis Smith, Jr., ordered all known copies of the recorded audiotapes and written transcripts resulting from the FBI's electronic surveillance of King between 1963 and 1968 to be held in the National Archives and sealed from public access until 2027.[181]"
"Allegations of adultery
Having concluded that King was dangerous due to communist infiltration, the focus of the Bureau's investigations shifted to attempting to discredit King through revelations regarding his private life. FBI surveillance of King, some of it since made public, attempted to demonstrate that he also engaged in numerous extramarital affairs.[164] Further remarks on King's lifestyle were made by several prominent officials, such as Lyndon Johnson, who once said that King was a "hypocritical preacher".[171] Ralph Abernathy, a close associate of King's, stated in his 1989 autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down that King had a "weakness for women".[172][173] In a later interview, Abernathy said he only wrote the term "womanizing", and did not specifically say King had extramarital sex.[174] King's biographer David Garrow detailed what he called King's "compulsive sexual athleticism." Garrow wrote about a number of extramarital affairs, including one with a woman King saw almost daily. According to Garrow, "that relationship, rather than his marriage, increasingly became the emotional centerpiece of King's life, but it did not eliminate the incidental couplings that were a commonplace of King's travels." King explained his extramarital affairs as "a form of anxiety reduction." Garrow noted that King's promiscuity was the cause of "painful and overwhelming guilt".[175]"
"King spoke earlier about what people should remember him for if they are around for his funeral. He said rather than his awards and where he went to school, people should talk about how he fought peacefully for justice.:
| “ | I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. And I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major. Say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.[127]" ================== Happy Birthday, Muhammad Ali, my most favorite boxer ever!   ============================================ Happy Blue Monday! Please visit: http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/  |
That's a long history lesson!
ReplyDeleteHappy Blue Monday, Dorin.
Ha! Thanks for the comment on my blog about not keeping photos, but keeping the family. Actually one person somewhere told me that if you have a hard time parting with some material possession, you can take a picture to remember it buy and then get rid of it. This helped me to get rid of things I had been hanging on to for ages. (AND I didn't have to even take the photos!). I had forgotten it was Martin Luther King Jr 's day because of some things that came my way today, until I went to get the mail! Then I remembered! I have had mixed feeling about him, but I have agreed with some of his quotes that I have read in the past....as far as his life, I figure we all fall short, it is disappointing, but we struggle in this life to live the way we should.
ReplyDeleteQuite a lot to think about there!
ReplyDeleteGreat blue in your Liberty pic.
Jan
What a great history lesson! Hope you are having a wonderful week!
ReplyDelete