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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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Forget the polls: Idle No More can take heart from history of the civil rights movement

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 The Idle No More Indigenous rights movement is promising more direct action in 2013. However, a spectre is haunting the movement -- the spectre of fading public sympathy. The majority of Canadians (as well as some in the movement) believe that gaining recognition for Indigenous rights depends on effectively bolstering and sustaining public support.

Does it?

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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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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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