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17 Jan 05 - 05:55 PM (#1380903) Subject: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: LilyFestre In January of 1987 I participated in a march in Forsythe County Georgia (then all white) in honor of Martin Luther King. It was a phenominal experience and I wondered if anyone here participated in it as well. It actually was the the second march. The first march took place a few weeks earlier and the marchers were met by the KKK who pelted them with bottles and rocks. The march that followed was MUCH larger (over 40,000 people) complete with the FBI and GBI (Georgia State Bureau of Investigation), low flying helicopters and a police riot line for 2+ miles dividing the marchers (who marched arm in arm, 6 across) and the KKK crowd. Was anyone else there? Michelle |
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16 Jan 06 - 12:16 PM (#1649576) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: saulgoldie "We ain't where we wanna be; we ain't where we oughtta be; but thank G-d Almighty we ain't where we were." Not the only important figure in the civil rights atruggle, but perhaps the best known. We must honor his memory by continuing the struggle until ALL children have a fair shot at the brass ring regardless of religious background, gender assignment, race, color, or anything else that typically causes division and hatred. |
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16 Jan 06 - 12:30 PM (#1649593) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Jerry Rasmussen Wasn't there, Michelle but I've been in several memorable marches. Perhaps the most life-changing was a snowy day ten years ago when I marched alongside Joe Evans. I had just met Joe and hardly knew him, but we made that long walk, just talking about where we were going in our lives. I told Joe that I intended to retire to the Midwest in a couple of years and he said "Oh, don't do that!, I don't want to hear you say that." It was a surprising comment as I barely knew him well enough to even know his name. A few weeks later, I was moved to start the Gospel Messengers and Joe was the first person I thought of asking. A year or so later, he was Best Man at our wedding, and now, ten years later, he is still my Best Man. This afternoon, I will be singing with the Greater New Haven Fellowship Male Chorus at a Martin Luther King celebration/ For me, it's a fitting way to honor the man and the dream. Jerry |
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16 Jan 06 - 12:37 PM (#1649596) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Peace Been in more than a few. Not that one. I always recall the words of Dick Gregory abot the KKK: "It ain't the hats that're pointy, it's the heads." |
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16 Jan 06 - 01:14 PM (#1649624) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Ebbie I got to wondering where we would be if Martin Luther King, Jr. had never shown up. (I know there were others agitating for change but none caught up the spirit of America, and therefore its conscience, as he did.) Would the civil rights movement have happened? Would the Black populations today be able to vote, without fee or penalty, to live where they please, to date whom they wish, marry those whom they love? Or would we still be limping along, never voicing our discomfort at the inequities? It is a hopeful thought that somehow Civilazation raises the figures that are essential. I look forward with anticipation and hope that we will recognize her/him/them when they come. |
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16 Jan 06 - 01:27 PM (#1649629) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Bobert I wasn't there, Michelle, but having grown up in a family of activists have been involved as both an organizer and participant of of many demonstrations against racism and against war... But I'm glad you started this thread because if you hadn't I was going to start one... Much of who I am I owe to Dr. King... (But, Bobert, you go off on these radical rants and get all in-yer-face with folks here in Mudville... How do you square that with what Dr. King taught about non-violence and peace and being all lovey-dovey???) Well, Dr, King also taught us to be tenacious... In an interview 10 days before his assisination he said, "We have always stood up against injustice. We have done it militantly. Now, so often the word 'militant' is misunderstood because most people think of militancy in miliatry terms. But to be militant merely means to be demanding and to be persistent, and in this sense I think the non-violent movement has demonstarted great militancy. It is possible to be lilitantly non-violent." In that same interview he said, I fell that at every point we musy make it clear that this isn't just a Negro problem, that white Americans have a responsibilty, indeed a great responsibility, to work passionately and unrelentingly for the solution of the problem of racism, and if that means constantly reminding white society of it's obligation, that must be done. If I have been accused of that, then I will continue to be accused." Now, within these two quotes is perhaps the basis of my value system that makes me expose the anti-human policies of my governwemtn... This didn't start with George Bush, BTW... It's been going on now since my early teens and my mom was marching in civil rights demonstrations... Those were some interesting times with my dad, at the time, still a stance Republican and corporation man... But he came 'round but not after many, many intersting family dinners which occasionally broke down into food fights... One last thing... ... America would be a better place now had Dr. King not been ripped from us at a time when America needed him the most... Bobert |
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16 Jan 06 - 02:51 PM (#1649684) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: katlaughing Thanks for starting this thread, Lily. I was with the first group to march in Casper, WY; a State where we had to be "militant" in the sense Bobert posted by Dr. King, in order to get the day even recognised. Casper lost one its native sons when he was murdered in the 60's, down South, while working for civil rights. Each year, we would have a special dinner in memory of him and Dr. King, as well as the march Just recently a biracial girl in middle school, here in western Colorado, was told by some white students they were going to put a noose around her neck and hang her. Kids are still learning this kind of crap and we HAVE to "keep on, keeping on" until all chldren like her and my twin grandsons, and their families, etc. feel free AND safe! kat |
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16 Jan 06 - 05:16 PM (#1649741) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Liz the Squeak Ah, but there's the thing... would there have been such an outcry and such focus on the Civil Rights Movement if Dr King hadn't been murdered? Many others were killed in the battle but how many of them made it into the history books? How many of them had such a high profile? LTS |
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16 Jan 06 - 05:33 PM (#1649749) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Azizi If you have Windows Media Stream capabilities, and you don't mind or can "play pass" the "N" word, check out two creative and thought provoking Boondock segments about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boondocks' Martin Luther King Jr. segments These segments were posted on the Nah Right Blog Archive. The introduction to the segments that was is as follows: "Man, Bill Cosby is gonna be pissed when he sees thisHere's the special, Martin Luther King Jr. episode of the Boondocks that is scheduled to air this Sunday. In this installment, Huey imagines that Dr. King survived his 1968 assasination and fell into a coma, eventually waking up in the year 2000, just days before Election day. Of course, the legendary activist and champion of voter's rights, is unable to vote after being turned away because of 'voting irregularities.' Hilarity ensues." |
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16 Jan 06 - 06:28 PM (#1649792) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: CarolC I think the focus would have been there, LtS. As a child of about 8, I was sitting at the feet of history, in our family living room, watching TV while Dr. King was giving his "I have a dream" speech. My sisters and I were watching the television very intently because we were trying to spot our mother there in the throng of people who had marched to the place in Washington DC where the speech was being given. The main visual memory I have of what I saw on that TV was the enormous numbers of people who were there, listening with rapt attention to what Dr. King had to say. We never did spot our mother there... too many people, obviously. But I feel confident that Dr. King's work would have had as much impact had he not been assasinated. Possibly more, because he was a powerful figure, and he had the ability to change people. |
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16 Jan 06 - 06:40 PM (#1649804) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Bobert Which, of course, is the peefect segway into Dr. King's assist in helping LBJ getting both the 1964 Civikl Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act passed with his elequence of charisma... Too bad that fast forward some 40 years and folks like the Tom DeLay's of the country still don't get it??? (Think the Texas redistricting where in Dallas and Austin lines were drawn up to dilute the minority vote...) BTW, provisions of the Voting Rights Act sunset next year so it should be interesting to see if the folks who claim to not have recist's motivations yet tend to do thinghs which seem on the surface to be racist will support these provisons staying in place... I'm sure there's allready some right winged think tank that is getting funded by some corporation that is busy at work getting the talking points down so that the Bushites will have them all neat and tidy... Like I said, America misses Dr. King everyday... He had a way of cutting right thru the smoke and presenting the real story... Bobert (And, BTW, part 2... And I'm sure Dr. King would approve of me making this observation here on his birthday... Anyobe ever wonder why it's the progressives and pro-human, pro-earth folks who egt assasined??? And by folks with little or no motive??? Hey, I'm not advocating killing anyone but the last conservative ower figure to be assasined was Huey Long... That was about 80 years ago but here in a short decade we had Malcolm X, John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Dr. King... All killed, perhaps with the exception of Malcolm X by folks with no real motive???...) |
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16 Jan 06 - 06:55 PM (#1649815) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Peace Andrew Goodman. James Chaney. Mickey Schwerner. Medgar Evers. Emmett Till. Birdia Keglar. Adena Hamlett. |
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16 Jan 06 - 07:02 PM (#1649824) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: GUEST ...I believe there was "real motive" behind all those assasinations. |
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16 Jan 06 - 08:00 PM (#1649838) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: CarolC All killed, perhaps with the exception of Malcolm X by folks with no real motive??? Doesn't seem quite plausible, does it, considering the numbers. |
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16 Jan 06 - 08:28 PM (#1649852) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Bobert Yeah, CarolC, on tonights NBC news they showed Dr. King's last speech in Memphis the night before he was assinated and I remember seeing it several times over the years but, given what was going down in the 60's with progressives getting assinated, Dr, King had a premonition that his days were numbered... It hurt to watch that last speech again... It never gets any easier... Especially when we look at what we have ended up in the leadership category... None of these folks would be in power had assination not been very possibly their dady's tools in dealing with folks who were visionary... They, collectively, had a dream and it was a good dream and no matter it's up to each of us to try to carry our communities closer to that dream and further from the visions that today's power structure paints... Bobert |
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16 Jan 06 - 10:16 PM (#1649937) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Ebbie Oh yes, the civil rights movement would have surged on. That wheel wasn't about to stop rolling. Dr. King died in 1968. By then he had turned his attention to other issues, like the war and poverty. I just wish he could have lived on into old age, poking us, goading us to keep our faces to the mirror. The man made the country think. |
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16 Jan 06 - 10:28 PM (#1649941) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Bobert Oh, Ebbie, when I think what Bobby Kennedy and Dr, Kig what would together brought this country it makes me want o weep whjeh I see the corporatization, greed that that has bought, lock,stock and barrel, our government... "... I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that, we as a peoplewill get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory and coming of the Lord." He was assainated the following night. Bobert |
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16 Jan 06 - 11:14 PM (#1649970) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Ebbie "... I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that, we as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory and coming of the Lord." That makes me weep but it also thrills my heart. What a comfort it must be to his loved ones. Thank you for posting that, Beaubear. It seems to me that we can't read it enough. |
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17 Jan 06 - 12:24 AM (#1650002) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: GUEST "To be an American black, is to be exaggerated, of all those who ever found themselves part of a civilization which they could in no way honorably defend--which they were compelled, indeed, endlessly to attack and condemn- -and who yet spoke out of the most passionate love, hoping to make the kingdom new, to make it honorable and worthy of life." James Baldwin, friend of Martin Luther King Jr. |
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17 Jan 06 - 12:16 PM (#1650253) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Janie We usually march here in our little town of Hillsborough, NC. The most remarkable things about Hillsborough's MLK Day events are 1. the miniscule number of white faces seen 2. And the difficulty in finding out what is planned. It is organized by the local NAACP and a coalition of Black churches. this year they actually printed a small item in the local weekly paper. A few years ago, I assumed the White establishment was responsible for squashing publicity, but I came to realize after a couple of years of making strings of phone calls to the churches and the local NAACP to try to find out where to show up and when, that many local African Americans really do not want white participation in the MLK events. We show up anyway, in the hope that doing so will keep the doors ajar for reconciliation. Janie |
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17 Jan 06 - 12:29 PM (#1650259) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Janie I make no negative judgements about the lack of a welcome mat. We are relative newcomers to both the South, and to our town, and so do not know what the local history is post-legal discrimination. (But "Blood done Sign My Name" probably offers some good clues. But there is clearly a 'color line' here that both races help to perpetuate. I tried to join the local NAACP, but they would not send me an application. Maybe I should just go on-line and join at the national level. Janie |
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17 Jan 06 - 12:34 PM (#1650265) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Janie One thing I do notice when talking with those white people from here who were active during the height of civil rights activism, is a certain unconscious and self-congratulatory smugness, that feels a bit more like paternalism than egalitarianism. Janie |
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17 Jan 06 - 12:46 PM (#1650273) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Janie (I'm trying to break this up into manageable lengths) This year our 12 y.o. son started attending a Friends school, and they have a very extensive program to honor the legacy of Dr. King. We attended that program instead of the March. Later in the day I asked my son what parts of the program made him 'think.' While he has always disliked going to the MLK march, he said that the March, listening to the oratory at one of the local Black churches at the end of the March, and the discomfort he exerienced from not feeling welcomed made him think hard about the effects of racism. The school program (private school with a small AF population) was more fun and was entertaining, but did not stimulate him to reflect on MLK and his legacy at all. Janie |
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17 Jan 06 - 01:42 PM (#1650305) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: GUEST In case anybody has forgoten, Republicans freed the slaves and sent the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock to enforce integration in Little Rock while Bubba Democrats fought it. Democrats like Congressman Robert Byrd, a former KKK member, who used the racial slur "white Ni**ers" twice while speaking on national TV. " http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAfaubus.htm In 1957, Orville Faubus (democrat and socialist) used the National Guard to stop black children from attending the Little Rock Central High School. On 24th September, 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower, went on television and told the American people: "At a time when we face grave situations abroad because of the hatred that communism bears towards a system of government based on human rights, it would be difficult to exaggerate the harm that is being done to the prestige and influence and indeed to the safety of our nation and the world. Our enemies are gloating over this incident and using it everywhere to misrepresent our whole nation." " |
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17 Jan 06 - 02:49 PM (#1650352) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: CarolC I suspect Dr. King was more concerned with social justice than he was with partisan politics. Congrats to the Republicans who helped bring about the needed changes. Like everyone else, however, the people of today cannot take credit for what was done by others in an earlier time. Nobody can rest on the laurels of others (or even our own, to whatever extent we have them). We can only do our best to live up to them. |
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17 Jan 06 - 02:57 PM (#1650359) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: CarolC If the Republicans of today want to be able to say they are continuing the work done by some of their predecessors in helping to bring about social justice, they will immediately stop using voter roll purges of people who are entitled to vote, and they will stop using intimidation tactics and other underhanded tactics designed to disenfranchise African American voters. They will do everything in their power to help ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to vote for the people who represent them in government. The Republicans of today have a lot to be ashamed of when it comes to matters of social justice. |
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17 Jan 06 - 03:18 PM (#1650369) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Once Famous When Liberal america stopped honoring Washington and Lincoln and combined it to "President's Day" the precedent was set to rename Martin Luthor King day to "Civil Rights Day." Let's see how that would go over with you PC goons. |
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17 Jan 06 - 03:40 PM (#1650379) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: WFDU - Ron Olesko Don't blame us liberals on this one! It was none other than Richard Nixon who declared "Presidents Day " in 1971 by a proclamation. However, a proclamation is not the same as a excecutive order so LEGALLY the day is still Washington's Birthday on federal orders. |
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17 Jan 06 - 06:01 PM (#1650452) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Once Famous Probably true, Ron. I'm not discounting MLK, but I kind of like the thought of it being renamed Civil Rights Day. It gives it more of a tone for everyone, not just a "feel good to be black" holiday. It would honor the man who really fought for civil rights for everyone. Didn't he? However I realize this would send a total shudder through the Politically Correct liberal element of our society. |
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17 Jan 06 - 07:13 PM (#1650491) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: WFDU - Ron Olesko It is true about Nixon, you can look it up as Casey would say. Actually they first "moved" Washington's Birthday to the third Monday in February back in 1968 so they can have three day weekends. Change the name of MLK Jr Day? Why stop there? Let's call the holidays as we see them. Drop the Memorial Day name (who really pays attention to Vets anyway) and call it Summer Opening Weekend. Drop Labor Day too (the rest of the world celebrates it in May anyway) and let's call it Summer's Over Weekend or Back to School Day. Who needs Thanksgiving? How about Pig-Out Thursday or November Glutton Day? And let's screw the Irish as well... who needs a day named after some has-been saint anyway? How about Drink Green Beer and Vomit Day? Why do we need Valentines Day? It really should be Hallmark & Witman's Sampler Day. I'm just farting around of course, but I like the days named after MLK, Washington and lets bring back Lincoln's Birthday - as well as all the holidays I mentioned above. While most people forget the meaning behind the holiday and use it as an excuse to party and get stupid, there are those that really do remember there are meanings behind the event. |
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17 Jan 06 - 07:40 PM (#1650512) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Peace "However I realize this would send a total shudder through the Politically Correct liberal element of our society." And likely the Politically Correct conservative element, too. |
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17 Jan 06 - 09:51 PM (#1650605) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: GUEST Lincoln did more for Afro Americans that MLK, Where is his parade? Where is the parade for the union army white people who lost their lives fighting for the freedom of the slaves? |
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17 Jan 06 - 10:25 PM (#1650622) Subject: RE: BS: Martin Luther King Day From: Bobert There are "sunset" provsisons of the Voting Right Act that come up for re-uppin' this year... The Repubs have control of Congress... Given the Texas redrisrticting , as well as redrisrticting in other states, I'm not too sure they will be up to the task... Bobert |