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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums“Brother Martin would not be invited to the very march in his name"
http://www.popularresistance.org/popular-resistance-newsletter-ironies-push-resistance-forward/One of the strange ironies of the upcoming week is the events around the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave the I Have a Dream speech. The event has been turned into a Democratic Party pep rally with people like Representatives Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi invited to speak. The irony is, as Cornell West says, Brother Martin would not be invited to the very march in his name, because he would talk about drones. Hed talk about Wall Street criminality. He would talk about working class being pushed to the margins as profits went up for corporate executives in their compensation.
As Ajamu Baraka writes: Obama is the living negation of everything, from his domestic to foreign policy, that Dr. King and the movement stood for in 1963. The president will be speaking on the anniversary of the event despite being at odds with what Dr. King worked for. Baraka adds, the rally reduces the range of acceptable discourse related to the plight of African Americans to reforms within the existing order. An alternative to the pep rally will be held Friday night beginning at 8 PM at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC and ending at the MLK memorial.
Dr. King, who was a victim of government surveillance, certainly would be on the opposite side of President Obama when it came to the NSA spying. This week we learned there are no real checks on NSA spying.
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Mannings actions were obviously moral and patriotic, but will President Barack Obama do the moral and just thing and pardon Manning? History will pardon Manning, and when it does, what will that do to the reputation of Obama? There is another potential irony of history, the law breaker, convicted felon will be the moral actor in this drama, while the president, a constitutional lawyer, so far, has not.
JustAnotherGen
(31,683 posts)He most certainly would be invited to speak and he would demand to have the floor in regards to the overturning of the Voting Rights Act. He also would be hollering about Slavery By Any Other Name, the justice system that deliberately and maliciously works to disenfranchise black men, the continued marginalization of black American women as the 'destroyers of the American family, etc. etc. He would ask WHY are our urban minority children being given a slip shod education. . . Why do black Americans receive substandard health care. . .
Lo and behold - Nancy Pelosi cares about those things.
And you know what? MLK would have done what he did when he was being watched by that old self hating Hoover . . .
Stuck out his chin and taken the jab. Because that's who he was and what he did.
He might even have demanded that Snowden get HIS records published immediately. He might have said, "Mr. Snowden, publish them and show the American people what the government is doing to me. Show them how a black man of my stature gets spit on by America. It wasn't just Brother Gates sir."'
Brother West's 'ideas' are great - but they don't ever seem to translate into education, health, and economic prosperity. I wonder why that is?
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)obnoxiousdrunk
(2,906 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)And they get rewarded or punished on how well they maintain that situation, that's why.
Neil Barofsky Gave Us The Best Explanation For Washington's Dysfunction We've Ever Heard
Linette Lopez
Business Insider, Aug. 1, 2012, 2:57 PM
Neil Barofsky was the Inspector General for TARP, and just wrote a book about his time in D.C. called Bailout: An Insider Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street.
SNIP...
Bottom line: Barofsky said the incentive structure in our nation's capitol is all wrong. There's a revolving door between bureaucrats in Washington and Wall Street banks, and politicians just want to keep their jobs.
For regulators it's something like this:
[font color="green"]"You can play ball and good things can happen to you get a big pot of gold at the end of the Wall Street rainbow or you can do your job be aggressive and face personal ruin...We really need to rethink how we govern and how regulate," Barofsky said.[/font color]
CONTINUED... http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-barofsky-2012-8
That's what Cornel West was talking about. Dr. King, too.
JustAnotherGen
(31,683 posts)Of black people tortured by Jim Crow and the pervasive racism exacted by the dominant culture on well - my brother and nephews to this day. So Cornel West can keep talking or writing - but he is not the authority on young, black, and upwardly mobile America.
Those of us who fit that description are!
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Check out one of my fellow Detroiter's ABC's:
ABCs of Detroit Bankruptcy
How do you spell the political and economic murder of a Black metropolis? The catastrophe in Detroit, from A to Z.
Tom Stephens
Black Agenda Report, Tue, 08/20/2013 - 10:22
There has been a lot of publicity and debate lately about Detroits bankruptcy. Its confusing and often disturbing. As a guide to past, current and future events, we offer the following glossary of key terms and their meanings for our home town:
Aa is for Austerity
Austerity is a social policy where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, because Frankly, you cant afford it. (Kevyn Orr, referring to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department)
Bb is for Bail-in
Bail-in is how Wall Street fraudsters and their political stooges help themselves by stealing pensions and public resources previously dedicated to quality of life for working People, because bail-outs are too unpopular. (See also Theft)
SNIP...
Jj is for Jones Day
Jones Day is the nations largest corporate law firm representing more than half of the Fortune 500, who as restructuring counsel plan to negotiate Detroits restructuring with Wall Street predators. Kevyn Orrs employer.
Kk is for Kleptocracy
Kleptocracy is government by corporate predators and thieves. (See also Jones Day and Wall Street)
CONTINUED...
http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/abc%E2%80%99s-detroit-bankruptcy
That's the reality for most African Americans in Detroit today -- and the future of most every American no matter what cultural heritage if things continue as they are.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)but he's not young any more.
Still got a lot of fire though. I appreciate that.
But he's not fighting for the "young, black, and upwardly mobile".
He seems, rather, to be fighting for the downwardly mobile of every race. Again, I appreciate that.
It is kinda sad to see this 50th anniversary being so co-opted. Especially by people who are themselves co-opted.
The original march on Washington was a challenge to power. The 50th anniversary is the powerful patting themselves on the back while they do almost nothing, or in fact, work against, the realization of Martin's dream. Maybe the speech this time should be "I have a degree in marketing".
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)estimated 30,000 California state prisoners and the Gitmo detainees who are on protracted hunger strikes right now and in sympathy with the 1 in 5 American children who go hungry each month while 1% controls 40% of the wealth.
At least, the MLK of my mind would not be marching. No disrespect to the marchers. (I'll be marching with my wife tomorrow in Hollywood for women's equality.)
JustAnotherGen
(31,683 posts)About black men incarcerated by the American INjustice system. He would point out slavery by another name is alive and well in America.
But what do I know? I'm only the child of a man who was Emmett Till's peer and grew up in a Jim Crow America. Now old Jim is out to get his grandchildren.
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)...before?!
Safetykitten
(5,162 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)the movement stood for in 1963.
Jesus H Christ, who appointed this asshole official spokesperson for the dead and Pope of authentic and inauthentic black people?
This is thinly-disguised race-baiting that will get white leftwing Obamahaters all giddy--now they have 'proof' that Obama really is a race traitor etc and can judge him by the color of his skin because some black guy said so.
JustAnotherGen
(31,683 posts)And I think he is dramatically out of step with younger black America. My opinion - Mellisa Harris-Perry is more in sync with my world view than he will ever be. He spends too much time preaching and not enough time discussing policy and how we can bring about change one by one . . .
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)would realize how fucking stupid that comment was.
Two pictures on most walls in most businesses. MLK and Obama.
JustAnotherGen
(31,683 posts)And they will be in my front stairwell when we move into our home at the end of October!
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)RZM
(8,556 posts)What he means is 'brother West wasn't invited.'
JustAnotherGen
(31,683 posts)mfcorey1
(10,997 posts)Correct.
TBF
(31,922 posts)didn't say "yes sir" fast enough. He's an articulate critic with many good points. For those who do not know him he is a very bright man. Here's the bio -- http://www.cornelwest.com/bio.html#.Uhiq4T8XatI
He gets a lot of flack for not touting the party line.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)for Dr. West and the truth. He's right, you know. Dr. King would NOT have been invited as he would have opposed everything Barak Obama is doing. Obama is on the wrong side of history and time will prove that out.
mfcorey1
(10,997 posts)uponit7771
(90,225 posts)about his overt dislike of Obama
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)neo-liberals that now control the Democratic Party. King was too radical for the Dems of 50 years ago until he forced their hands, so he'd DEFINITELY be too radical for the current crop of "moderate Republicans" that inhabit DC in Democratic clothes.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,683 posts)He would be there. I don't believe for one second MLK would Turn his back on Trayvon's parents, Myrlie Evers-Williams, a stand against Stand Your Ground laws, fair treatment of black children, and Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr.
Medgar Ever's wife alone would get him out there in a wheelchair and an oxygen tank. He's crying on the side with a boy named Emmett today.
They are also marching for jobs. Social Justice. Things the black community desperately needs.
We are supporting every other interest group in the big tent called liberal and progressive. We do it without a chip in our shoulder or resentment. But today - today can we SEE race in America? Can we look at the black unemployment rate in this so-called recovering economy?
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)And we can make a pretty good guess as to what his positions would be based on what he said at the time. He was a democratic socialist for Dog's sake. That would be as unwelcome as a screen door on a submarine in today's Democratic Party. Hell, as I said above, MLK was actually too radical for the Dem Party of his day, so he would DEFINITELY be too radical for today's bunch.
Oh yeah, and some of us thought he was WAY too centrist.
Edited to add: The reason he was killed was because he started to get more heavily involved in economic justice and anti-imperialism issues. It's no accident that he was in Memphis to support the garbage haulers strike when he was killed. You can be popular and mess with the social issues, but you better not be popular and mess with the owner's profits. That's a death sentence in the dictatorship of capital.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)who marched with him and are still fighting for the same cause, it's pretty easy to see that it's not too hard to figure out what MLK Jr. would be doing today. It was never just a one man show.
JustAnotherGen
(31,683 posts)C . T. Vivian and Joseph Lowery were there yesterday.
So was John Lewis - http://t.mediaite.com/mediaite/#!/entry/watch-john-lewis-speaks-at-march-on-washington-50th-anniversary,5218ec0487443d6c8e5c1054
That tells me all I need to know. Especially Vivian's presence.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)that would have been pooh-poohed by many as not "pragmatic".
malaise
(267,823 posts)limpyhobbler
(8,244 posts)MLK would not have been allowed to speak at today's March. He had very radical views regarding war, freedom, and equality and would never have censored himself just to get a pat on the head from the powerful.
malaise
(267,823 posts)Nancy Polosi was present in 1963
Fugg off - this is still Democratic Underground.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)progressed way beyond what it has now. Same goes for Robert Kennedy, even if he never became President. If he were still alive he'd be going strong too. And if Al Gore had been allowed to step up to his Presidency circumstances would be very different.
Cornell West's argument is specious, simplistic and self-serving.
I think that if either man were alive today, he would have long ago been "taken down" in some other way. Not killed, but shamed, discredited, and marginalized.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)The thing about these men though is the idea of what they said or did would have a life of its own without them.
dawg
(10,610 posts)it would just be the silly, impractical liberals like me who would care. They would be figures like Alan Grayson, Van Jones, or, if they were lucky, Bernie Sanders.
They would speak out. Guys like me would say "Right on!". And the woodchucks would go "Tut, tut, tut".
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Lord help us all.
CakeGrrl
(10,611 posts)and it's telling to see how eagerly his non-stop bashing has been co-opted by the Snowden/Greenwald supporters to bash the President from another angle.
TheKentuckian
(24,949 posts)attacks, "free trade" agreements, coddling bankers, and wars without borders, duration, or clear enemies on an unending basis?
Or are you saying that despite being against such things Dr. King would have an honored place in the debate even if was running counter to "leadership"?
Or are you saying that whatever Dr. King believed during his live that he would have become a "sensible centrist" by now?
What is West so wrong about? Just because Dr. King wasn't Malcolm doesn't mean he was a woodchuck. Far further from it than it is comfortable for many to even contemplate.
I see no reason Dr. King wouldn't be WAY under the bus without the aura of his martyrdom and the separation of decades because he might well be more radical than Dr. West and I've not seen an iota of evidence that remaining consistent to his values that such would be tolerated. He'd be shouted down like anyone else who dares speak up about anything.
Of course economic justice and peace arguments of that magnitude and power would have been snuffed out by hook or by crook by this late date or maybe things would not be allowed to slip so far which is why many with the message have either been slain, derided, locked away, marginalized.
pnwmom
(108,925 posts)without any regard for possible consequences. There was nothing patriotic about releasing a cable that revealed who in Mugabe's government was working against the dictator. There was nothing patriotic about revealing the names of Chinese human rights activists.
Manning went to Assange with the helicopter video, and Assange convinced him to steal everything he could get his hands on. Blame Assange for what happened to Manning, not Obama.