We Miss the Mark on Martin Luther King Day

Dr. Larry James:

The kinds of volunteer opportunities that Dr. King invited people to take part in often landed them in jail, not on the front page of the society section.

Comments

[Gerry]

Dr. James makes some excellent points. MLK was not into philanthropy that is making little changes around the edges, but wanted social change right down to the roots of society.

Speaking of examples of the right kind of leadership, thank you again to Larry James and his work for CDM.

[phil]

Jeremy Gregg is his fundraiser. As you know Jeremy comments here and blogs at The Raisers Razor.

[bUM fREE]

MLK was an amalgam of love, humility, discipline, critical thinking -- and probably anger.

A well-integrated, whole man.

Does that seem true?

or does this (from the recent speech):

And on the eve of the bus boycotts in Montgomery, at a time when many were still doubtful about the possibilities of change, a time when those in the black community mistrusted themselves, and at times mistrusted each other, King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks to us today:

“Unity is the great need of the hour” is what King said. Unity is how we shall overcome.

[phil]

Yeah, the counterpart was the Black Panther Party, rioting, violence and mayhem. Change was coming the easy way or the hard way. King was the least of evils. Unity he meant not as something syrupy but unity as the firehoses and the attack dogs and beatings approached. He was a militant using peaceful means and he lost his life doing it. You might say that peaceful militancy was a career limiting move. I don't see anyone on the public scene these days willing to lay down their life for social justice. King said, in effect, "You don't have enough jail cells, enough dogs, enough bullets. We will sing in those cells even as you beat us." That is Christianity as it once was. Here and earlier in Rome. When the person running for Emperor espouses the movement, and speaks of unity, that is good, so much the better, but it is still an Empire. The lines drawn are not just about race, but about wealth. Unity across that divide, of those who have and those who don't, does not really seem at issue. Obama like any other politician raises his money from those who have it, and he will be united with them in common purpose. Defusing, ameliorating, serving as figurehead. What else can he do? You don't take meat from the mouth of a lion. And the wealthy are used to being well fed. From Znet

OBAMA’S CORPORATE CASH AND POLICY NEXUS

Foreign policy is not the only area in which Obama contradicts the noble principles, elders and values he invokes. Take campaign finance. The junior Senator from Illinois denounces the corrosive influence of private political cash on U.S. democracy while cozying up to Chicago’s corrupt Big Money Mayor Richard M. Daley (with whom he shares the same high-priced campaign consultant [David Axlerod]) and raking in campaign largesse from the commanding heights of the capitalist class. His top career sponsors include Goldman Sachs, Exelon (a leading Midwestern utility and the world’s leading nuclear plant operator), Soros Fund Management, J.P Morgan Chase & Co., a number of leading corporate law and lobbying firms (including Kirkland & Ellis, Skadden Arps, and Sidley Austin LLP), top Chicago investment interests (including Henry Crown & Co and Aerial Capital Management) and the like (Center for Responsive Politics 2007a).

The article continues with examples of positions taken by Obama consonant with the goals of his funders but contrary to the interests of this constituents. A useful tool, but his rhetoric well represents the popular positions he sells out, as his actions well represent those who fund him. Unless campaign finance is made more democratic, what other result can we expect?

[Jeremy Gregg]

Thanks for posting a link to Larry's article, Phil. He is certainly offers a perspective that challenges us -- including those who have the great privilege to work for him -- to open our ears anew and to listen to King's true message.

Larry is the real deal.

[phil]

Yes, he is very special man, with a message that we might otherwise evade.