I thought I would start a thread for the holiday that I personally hold in very high regard as I have a deep respect for the man who the day is named after. A Letter From A Birmingham Jail has always been influential to me and my views on civil rights in this country. Dr. King's influence has earned his name the right to be a national holiday but I believe we all know this holiday not only represents his amazing accomplishments but all the accomplishments of the civil rights era. In fact I think Dr. King would have loved to see the event that will occur exactly one day after this year's Martin Luther King Day and that event is a result of all that Dr. King helped accomplish in this country. So here is to hoping everyone a happy MLK Jr. Day.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0FiCxZKuv8"]YouTube - Martin Luther King, Jr.'s last speech[/ame] heres to the promised land........
He knew what was coming. You can tell from that speech especially that he knew, which is very sad. Its terrible that the greatest of people have to be so hated that someone can take their lives. If only he could have lived to a full life this world would have been a better place for it.
not so much prophetic as just weary of his own future I think. With that many people gunning for him, and on top of that put the number of people that died in the struggle and the future does not look very bright. edit:I think the fact that he still continued his work despite pressure from hoover and thinking he would die, makes him all that much more special....
Well that is what I mean Lucky not that he could actually see the future but you could tell he knew that he wouldn't live a full life. You see the same sort of thing with other prominent figures that get killed...Abe Lincoln had a dream where he walked up on his self in a coffin just a couple months before he was assassinated for instance. Its not that they can actually see their future but they know their time short as you said. We agree.
Not being racist her, but an MLK day should be a Racial unity day. Honoring a day near MLKs birthday is fine, but a day honoring racial equality activists in February would be better. JFK, RFK, MLK, Rosa parks, etc...
I watched the special about him last night.. he said that after they killed Bobby he knew he wouldn't make it. To me, the shame of all this was J Edgar Hoover. For every step forward King was making, Hoover tried to set him back and discredit him. Remember in the context of the times sking, that King was a serious threat to a LOT of bigoted white folk. There should be no surprise that one of them tried to be the hero. If you didn't live then, it's really hard for you to understand the confused feelings going on. Much of white America knew that equality was the right thing but generations of predjudice had to dealt with.. the transition was not as easy to do as one would think today. And we lost two of our greatest Champions back to back. The sixties opened aquamarine and then they killed Jack. The sixties ended dark and hostile when they took Bobby and Martin. We walked on the moon, but here on Earth we couldn't walk as brothers because of the color of the skin.. things are so much better now.
the funny thing about the movement, is it became its strongest when a white person died. I think often people forget that there were other races in the movement, many of whom got worse because they were not a minority. I look at today as a day to remember them, as well as the many races who were part of the movement. The movement, although in a dark time in american history, was what we always wished america would be IMO.
One of the better post that I have read in sometime. Thank you Marty. Im a young guy (23), So I dont know much about that era other than what they taught in school.