Happy MLK Day!

[M.D. Holloway]

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

(nobody like you...)

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...

Don't think you uinderstand until your have been repressed because of your skin color...

[kstar]

He was actually assassinated the "evening" of April 4, 1968, not "early morning" as the U2 song says.

Maybe it was changed because "early morning" works/sounds better in the song?

Too bad there doesn't seen to be a person like MLK around these days.

Best,

Kurt

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by LubeMaster77

Don't think you uinderstand until your have been repressed because of your skin color...

Or religion, sex, orientation.

Friend of mine, gay jewish guy, MLK is one of his idols. He takes the day off and gets crap for it. People say "you're not black". Those people do not really understand what MLK said.

Although I have a Dream focuses heavily on the civil rights of Blacks it ends with,

"And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

[cool_chick]

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I wish we had more like him around today. He was a man way, way ahead of his time.

[island911]

removed - sorry, pollute another thread with political rancor...not this one

-ns

[equality72521]

I don't know what island911 said that caused nostatic to remove his post but I'm certain, based on the posts I've read by nostatic, that it was a remark that would have caused anger or disbelief in us all. I don't have to know what was written, just that I have lost a measure of respect for island911.

[Superman]

I've had a strong academic and personal affinity for brilliant writings and orations. They thrill me. I probably consider the so-called "I Have a Dream" speech to be one of the most brilliant speeches of all time. I probably think of it as the "promisory note" speech. Where to start? To begin, the speech is undeniable. A string of unassailable truths. He points more to the promise of America than to its failings. It is a speech of beauty and hope. And yet, he does not fail to illustrate the ugliness of racism and inequality.

And of course, many have noted the fact that he had hundreds of thousands of angry and potentially angry demonstrators who came away from this speech with renewed energy and enthusiasm and resolve.....focused in a peaceful, maybe Saintly approach. In other words, the world has always wondered what would have happened following that speech if someone like Malcolm-X had delivered it. No, we don't wonder. We marvel that it took a man of King's brilliance and leadership to pull that off. Amazing speech.

Here is one of my very favorite King snippets:

"Love is not the answer. It is the assignment."

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by equality72521

I don't know what island911 said that caused nostatic to remove his post but I'm certain, based on the posts I've read by nostatic, that it was a remark that would have caused anger or disbelief in us all. I don't have to know what was written, just that I have lost a measure of respect for island911.

I read it and if I recall it was complimentary regarding MLK.

Pulling it without explanation certainly will lead people to believe otherwise.

[nostatic]

It was a video of Hillary with a brief sarcastic comment. Not sure how you found that "complimentary."

[rouxroux]

And it is a crying shame and an injustice to his memory that MANY are still WANTING (and insisting) to be judged by the color of their skin instead of the content of their character.

[kstar]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

I read it and if I recall it was complimentary regarding MLK.

Pulling it without explanation certainly will lead people to believe otherwise.

I'm surprised it was pulled as well - nostatic is typically lenient, IMHO.

The post by island was fairly mild compared to some stuff on this board, but I think it may been taken personally, again IMHO.

I'm not questioning anyone's authority or meaning to show disrespect to nostatic or Wayne, just making a comment.

RIP MLK.

Best,

Kurt

edit - when I read the post, there was no video, FWIW.

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by nostatic

It was a video of Hillary with a sarcastic comment. Not sure how you found that "complimentary."

Didn't he say something to the effect of Hillary not giving him his proper due?

It was a bash of Hillary not MLK.

[BGCarrera32]

Originally Posted by Superman

I've had a strong academic and personal affinity for brilliant writings and orations. They thrill me.

Ah, so that's why you're on PPOT so much

[cool_chick]

Originally Posted by Superman

I've had a strong academic and personal affinity for brilliant writings and orations. They thrill me. I probably consider the so-called "I Have a Dream" speech to be one of the most brilliant speeches of all time. I probably think of it as the "promisory note" speech. Where to start? To begin, the speech is undeniable. A string of unassailable truths. He points more to the promise of America than to its failings. It is a speech of beauty and hope. And yet, he does not fail to illustrate the ugliness of racism and inequality.

And of course, many have noted the fact that he had hundreds of thousands of angry and potentially angry demonstrators who came away from this speech with renewed energy and enthusiasm and resolve.....focused in a peaceful, maybe Saintly approach. In other words, the world has always wondered what would have happened following that speech if someone like Malcolm-X had delivered it. No, we don't wonder. We marvel that it took a man of King's brilliance and leadership to pull that off. Amazing speech.

Here is one of my very favorite King snippets:

"Love is not the answer. It is the assignment."

[kstar]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

Didn't he say something to the effect of Hillary not giving him his proper due?

It was a bash of Hillary not MLK.

Yes and yes.

Hillary's comment created quite a stir among some African Americans as well.

[nostatic]

I don't see any reason to bash Hillary in this thread. Or Bush for that matter. He is free to start another thread and bash away. It seemed totally inappropriate to start yet another political pissing match in this thread.

[cool_chick]

Address delivered in Acceptance of Nobel Peace Prize
10 December 1964
Oslo, Norway

Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, Mr. President, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen: I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when twenty-two million Negroes of the United States are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice. I accept this award on behalf of a civil rights movement which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice.

I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs, and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeking to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. I am mindful that debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladder.

Therefore, I must ask why this prize is awarded to a movement which is beleaguered and committed to unrelenting struggle, and to a movement which has not yet won the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize. After contemplation, I conclude that this award, which I receive on behalf of that movement, is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.

Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. Sooner or later, all the peoples of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

The torturous road which has led from Montgomery, Alabama, to Oslo bears witness to this truth, and this is a road over which millions of Negroes are traveling to find a new sense of dignity. This same road has opened for all Americans a new era of progress and hope. It has led to a new civil rights bill, and it will, I am convinced, be widened and lengthened into a superhighway of justice as Negro and white men in increasing numbers create alliances to overcome their common problems.

I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history.

I refuse to accept the idea that the "is-ness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "ought-ness" that forever confronts him.

I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of nuclear annihilation.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

I believe that even amid today's mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow.

I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.

I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up.

I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed and nonviolent redemptive goodwill proclaimed the rule of the land. And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid.

I still believe that we shall overcome.

This faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds and our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, we will know that we are living in the creative turmoil of a genuine civilization struggling to be born.

Today I come to Oslo as a trustee, inspired and with renewed dedication to humanity. I accept this prize on behalf of all men who love peace and brotherhood. I say I come as a trustee, for in the depths of my heart I am aware that this prize is much more than an honor to me personally. Every time I take a flight I am always mindful of the many people who make a successful journey possible, the known pilots and the unknown ground crew. You honor the dedicated pilots of our struggle, who have sat at the controls as the freedom movement soared into orbit. You honor, once again, Chief Lutuli of South Africa, whose struggles with and for his people are still met with the most brutal expression of man's inhumanity to man. You honor the ground crew, without whose labor and sacrifice the jet flights to freedom could never have left the earth. Most of these people will never make the headlines, and their names will never appear in Who's Who. Yet, when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live, men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness' sake.

I think Alfred Nobel would know what I mean when I say I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners: all those to whom truth is beauty, and beauty, truth, and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold. Thank you.

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by nostatic

I don't see any reason to bash Hillary in this thread. Or Bush for that matter. He is free to start another thread and bash away. It seemed totally inappropriate to start yet another political pissing match in this thread.

Fair enough, your call but as you can see people thought he bashed on MLK and that's really not fair.

Now people know, good enough case closed.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Or religion, sex, orientation.
!"

Sorry, but that is crap, you shouldn't get special treatment because who or how you choose to have sex with
And Clinton got a raw deal on her comments, total crap!!!
MLK did great things, to bad so many don't take advantage of the doors he helped open.