Dirty Greek - Hail To The King, Baby

Master Shake told me to go in the freezer because there was a carnival in there. There was no carnival, it was a damn freezer! I got freezer burn, and I got mushed up against that chicken.

- Meatwad

:: Blog :: Photos :: Europe :: Books :: Articles :: Links :: Friends :: Combo Feed :: Mobile ::

george-at-dirtygreek.org

follow dirtygreek at http://twitter.com

My Photos

My Flickr Photos

Dirty Greek - Hail To The King, Baby

Inalienable Rights : Hail To The King, Baby

You are NOT on the DirtyGreek.Org homepage. Please CLICK HERE to go there.

So, today is MLK day. For alot of people nowadays, his birthday is just an excuse to get out of work. Not me, however, because I have to work today :) The thing is, though, that what we're taught about MLK isn't the least bit good enough to allow anyone to really understand what an activist he was. You'll see documentaries on his life and whatnot, and someone might play the "I have a dream" speech, but you won't hear the other speeches or about his other activities other than the few you hear repeated every year.

You don't often hear about his anti-Vietnam War stances. You also probably won't hear about the Poor People's Campaign, which stretched across ratial lines to try and get equality for not only all races, but all economic groups as well.

Also, you won't hear discussed at great length the tactics which Dr. King used and promoted, such as the nonviolent direct action he stressed in his letter from the Birmingham jail. Direct action is, in my opinion, about the only actual way to effect social change. Protests, chanting, and posting flyers usually doesn't do much except let people know the details of a situation and/or how upset you are about it. Direct action is a method and a theory of stopping objectionable practices or creating more favorable conditions using immediately available means. It's not meant to get a point across. It's meant to make the necessary change - now.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is not to concentrate just on what you learned in school and in the major news media about Dr. King, but to try and learn about all of the other important works he did and ideas he espoused that you won't learn about. To me, they're alot more interesting and inspiring anyway. Oh, and don't forget to check out other important civil rights and social equality leaders, either.