Tag Archives: Democracy

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – January 15, 2025

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shortly after his release from Reidsville Penitentiary, Georgia, 1960, Photo Credit: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Jack Lewis Hiller, ©1960 Jack L. Hiller

At a particularly harrowing pivot point in the history of the USA, we are in a time of sharp reliefs.

There have always been divisions from the inception of the nation, generally understood as the Federalist – State’s Rights divide. The Constitution, in the original sin of the nation’s founding, upheld the ultimate state’s rights issue by allowing for slavery to continue: a decision that continues to roil our understanding of justice and the rights of citizens and those who reside in our nation.

As Dr. King began his extraordinary crusade for Civil Rights, the nation had to face up to the deep divisions of racism, and in so doing spurred on the civil rights legislation that over a generation guaranteed rights for African Americans,  women, LGBTQ+, Native Americans, immigrants, the disabled, and many other classes of people who were marginalized and overlooked.

And yet, here we are: Racist. Sexist. Anti-Gay. Anti-Trans. Banning books. Banning speech. Dismantling public education through anti-intellectualism and the removal of critical inquiry. And on, and on, as we face the disillusionment of the fourth estate and the celebration of corruption that is transactional oligarchy.

The legacy of Dr. King , however, remains.

His last speech in Memphis in support of the sanitation worker’s strike, known as the I’ve Been To The Mountaintop speech, given on the eve of his martyrdom, remains to instruct us.

May we all have the strength to leave our world better than we found it.

 

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – January 15, 2024

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ZUMA Press/Newscom/File

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was first and last an American patriot. As he stated in his Letter From A Birmingham City Jail,

I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation -and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands. Link Letter from a Birmingham City Jail, April 16, 1963

Months later in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King continued to profess his belief as a patriot, “I still have a dream,” he said. “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.” Link I Have A Dream Speech, August 28, 1963.

Even in his last speech in support of striking sanitation workers at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee, the night before he was assassinated, Dr. King, harkened to his deep belief in the American experiment:

Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you. Link I’ve Been to the Mountaintop, April 3, 1968.

Today marks Dr. King’s 95th birthday. Would that this great patriot were alive today to give us his wisdom, faith, and profound belief in democratic principles.

True Courage #Egypt

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True Courage #Egypt

Defying the curfew in Cairo, Egypt, January 29, 2011

Boxers know a thing or two about courage.  Walking into the ring to risk injury or worse is never an easy thing.  Yet boxers also train long and hard to mitigate the risks of the ring in their favor.


The hundreds of thousands of people who have taken to the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, however, have not trained themselves for battle. Yet, they have risen on mass, young and old, men and women, professional and worker, student and pensioner to demand an end to over thirty years of oppressive rule.

This is one of those extraordinary moments —  such as the fall of the Berlin Wall when we must all stand as one to support the courageous people of such places as Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen in their bid for democratic freedom.  We must let them know that they are not alone — and that we honor and cherish true courage where we find it.

Information and live video can be found here, here and here.

To tweet encouragement add the following to your message #egypt, #jan25, #jan26, #cairo or #alexandria

We should all help to shine the light on a very dark night of oppression.