http://www.opednews.com/articles/Where-Do-We-Go-From-Here-by-Benjamin-woods-100827-275.html'
August 28, 2010
By Benjamin woods
"Tell the children the truth, yeah, the truth tell them about Martin
Luther King, tell them the truth."
-If I Were President Wyclef Jean
--
This Saturday August 28, 2010 is the 47th anniversary of the March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom. At this demonstration, Martin Luther
King Jr. (MLK) gave his most well-known and, at the same time,
misunderstood speech. However, over the past few decades a
controversy has erupted over the true legacy of MLK. The
proto-fascist far right wing represented by Glenn Beck and the Tea
party movement is sponsoring a march that, allegedly, supports the
ideals of MLK. Similarly, the National Action Network and Al Sharpton
are sponsoring a march to "Reclaim the Dream." The truth is, neither
one of these groups represent MLK. This weekend, as we are inundated
with white corporate media propaganda, it is important to recall the
final years of Dr. King's life and legacy.
Following the passage of civil rights legislation such as the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, MLK began to
focus more on issues of economic justice. The economic problems that
existed in the urban north were not the same as the segregated south.
King began to question the very economic system itself stating "that
something is wrong"with capitalism"there must be better distribution
of wealth and maybe America must move towards a Democratic Socialism."
His move towards socialism was also influenced by events in the so
called Third World. King joined the Anti-War movement and took a
stance against the War in Vietnam. In 1967, at Riverside Baptist
Church in New York in a speech titled "A Time to Break the Silence"
he called the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the
world" because of the destruction caused by napalm and other mass
killing devices used by "his own government." And finally, influenced
by the anti-colonial movements occurring in Africa and Asia he
started to refer to the slums and ghettos of America as a "a system
of internal colonialism."
As writers such as Frantz Fanon have shown, colonialism is not just
economic but cultural and psychological as well. Centuries of
oppression in the form of enslavement and segregation have had
devastating effects upon the self-image and consciousness of African
people. He noted that the assertiveness and confrontational style of
the Civil Rights Movement helped to develop self-respect among
Africans in the south.
Moreover, as Black Power advocates such as Malcolm X and the Black
Panther Party gained ascendancy, he rejected complete assimilation
into American society and strove for community empowerment. King
stated "we must use every constructive means to amass economic and
political power. This is the kind of legitimate power we need. We
must work to build racial pride and refute the notion that [B]lack is
evil and ugly."
After the civil right victories and his move to advance community
empowerment, Dr. King prophetically warned of the rise of the
right-wing in the United States. He stated "the line of progress is
never straight. For a period a movement may follow a straight line
and then it encounters obstacles and the path bends".we are
encountering such a period today. The inevitable counterrevolution
that succeeds every period of progress is taking place." In 1968
Republican Richard "tricky dick" Nixon won the Presidency and by 1980
the counterrevolution was complete with the election of Ronal Reagan.
These two elected officials would usher in a period of fiscal
conservatism, state repression, color blindness, and personal
responsibility. Unlike some of today's negro leaders, King didn't
describe our problems as laziness, poor morals, or lack of personal
responsibility but as a result systemic forces. He stated "true
compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it understands
that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring" and "the
roots of [economic injustice] are in the system rather than in the
faulty operations of men."
At the end of his life Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. argued for a
"radical restructuring of society" and "a revolution of values."
Before his assassination, he was in the process of building a
multi-racial Poor People's campaign for economic and racial justice.
Any march that claims to follow in his tradition should continue
where he left off. His political and economic program included: a
guaranteed annual income, free housing, free education, free
healthcare, and an end to all wars of foreign aggression. He believed
this could be achieved by a massive civil disobedience campaign in
major urban centers that causes the political and economic life of
this country to come to a halt until issues affecting the poor are
completely eliminated. Unfortunately, neither of these marches
represents the real MLK, therefore, it is on those who believe in his
vision today to build a real social movement for a revolutionary
transformation of human society.
--
Forgotten MLK Quotes
"We must rapidly shift from a "thing'-oriented society to a
"person'-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit
motives and property rights are considered more important than
people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are
incapable of being conquered."
"Although genuinely popular [Negro] leaders are now emerging, most
are selected by white leadership, elevated to position, supplied with
resources and inevitably subjected to white control."
"I contend that the debate over the question of self-defense was
unnecessary since few people suggested that Negroes should not defend
themselves as individuals when attacked. The question was not whether
one should use his gun in his home was attacked, but whether it was
tactically wise to use gun while participating in an organized demonstration."
--
Cone, James. (1992). Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a
Nightmare. New York: New York, Orbis Books.
__________. "Martin Luther King Jr. and the Third World." The Journal
of American History. Vol. 74, No. 2 (Sep., 1987), pp. 455-467.
Dyson, Michael. (2000). I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin
Luther King Jr. New York: New York, Free Press.
Washington, James (ed). (1986). A Testament of Hope: The Essential
Writings of Martin Luther King Jr. New York: New York, Harper One.
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