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Columnists

Detroit: Beginning to chart an alternative path

"I have a dream." Ask anyone where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. first proclaimed those words, and the response will most likely be at the March on Washington in August 1963. In fact, he delivered them two months earlier, on June 23, in Detroit, leading a march down Woodward Avenue.

King said:

"I have a dream that one day, right down in Georgia and Mississippi and Alabama, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to live together as brothers. ...

"I have a dream this afternoon that my four little children ... will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the colour of their skin.

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MLK's vision of justice and equality alive in movements like Occupy and Idle No More

Martin Luther King, Jr. 1964 (Photo: Library of Congress)

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Most Canadians, even those with little knowledge of American history, will know King as a leader of the African-American civil rights movement, a Christian minister and a proponent of non-violent civil disobedience. And many will be acquainted with the public address with which King is most closely associated, the 'I Have a Dream' speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. in August 1963.

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Columnists

The rebellious life of Rosa Parks

Photo: Matt Lemmon/Flickr

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On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger in Montgomery, Ala., thus launching the modern-day civil-rights movement. Monday, Feb. 4, is the 100th anniversary of her birth. After she died at the age of 92 in 2005, much of the media described her as a tired seamstress, no troublemaker. But the media got it wrong. Rosa Parks was a first-class troublemaker.

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Cornel West on Obama and the real legacy of Martin Luther King

C-Span footage of Cornel West explaining why it bothers him that Obama will be taking the oath With MLK's bible.

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Martin Luther King Injustice Index 2013: Racism, materialism and militarism

Image: http://www.sofreshandsogreen.com/

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While the U.S. celebrates the re-election of its first African American President and the successes of numerous African Americans in all walks of life, there remain troubling challenges.

While remembering how far this nation has come since Dr. King was alive, we cannot forget how far we have still to go to combat the oppressions of racism, materialism and militarism.

Racism

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Columnists

In the spirit of Dr. King, a call for refugee sanctuary

Photo: Revolt! Puppy/Flickr

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The annual mid-January Martin Luther King Day celebrations are generally a frustrating example of how the legacy of a difficult and troubled revolutionary can be co-opted into the image of an acceptable, bland hero who has freeways and monuments named after him.

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Remembering Martin Luther King and his fight for economic justice

MLK Poor People's Campaign of 1968 by Kofi Bailey.

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Today the United States observes Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to honour the life and work of the great civil rights leader.  

King is most famously remembered for his legendary "I have a dream" speech, and his leadership in the non-violent civil disobedience for civil rights for African Americans. 

And rightly so. King was a transformative figure and a once-in-a-generation kind of leader. King deservingly holds the distinction of being the only individual American with a current U.S. holiday named after him.  

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Derrick O'Keefe

The real legacy of MLK: Confronting poverty, racism and war

By
Derrick O'Keefe
| January 17, 2012

Today is Martin Luther King Day in the United States. Of all the commemorations and activities, among the most interesting and significant are those relating to Occupy Wall Street. The official histories do not adequately explain the extent to which King had taken up the struggle of poor and working people, his attempts to bring together a mass movement for racial and economic justice. Closely related to that was King's increasingly outspoken opposition to the brutal U.S. war against Vietnam.

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Velcrow Ripper

Occupy the Dream: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the power of love

By
Velcrow Ripper
| January 16, 2012

"Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

Today the Occupy Movement will be engaging in global actions centred around the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The heart of Dr. King's vision offers wonderful inspiration for the movement -- one that is deeply rooted in love. King's approach to activism was all about "love in action."

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Columnists

Martin Luther King Jr.'s arc of moral justice extends to Occupy Wall Street

The national memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. was dedicated last Sunday. President Barack Obama said of Dr. King, "If he were alive today, I believe he would remind us that the unemployed worker can rightly challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing all who work there." The dedication occurred amidst the increasingly popular and increasingly global Occupy Wall Street movement. What Obama left unsaid is that King, were he alive, would most likely be protesting Obama administration policies.

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