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The [Monday] PapersJust like they do with John Lennon, a lot of folks today who despised him in his time - or would have - will speak glowingly of Dr. Martin Luther King today. I have no patience for such posers. If King were with us today, for example, have no doubt that he'd be with Cornel West, not Barack Obama; the difference being that, unlike West, King would not have been fooled in the first place. When a young Barack Obama said "That's my story" after reading Taylor Branch's Parting the Waters, well, I don't know which version of the book he read but I don't see any parallels between King's deep-seated, religiously anchored struggle for moral justice and a smart but somewhat wayward youth whose accommodationist ways were already evident in a struggle not with the world but with himself over his own identity. How dare he. And I'm sure Rahm Emanuel will have some kind words to say about Dr. King today - even as he schemes to discourage and punish protesters whom King would have stood with. Pat Quinn will join Rahm at a prayer's breakfast this morning, but do you really think King would be pleased with the governor awarding tax breaks to crybaby corporation who asks while social service vendors go begging for money already owed them? King didn't preach candy-cotton and unicorns. He aggressively took a side. He unequivocally stood for a set of principles which will maddeningly be glossed over today. "When the Civil Rights movement was building, Dr. King was reviled as an outside agitator and slandered as a communist," Jesse Jackson said in a statement from the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. "Dr King challenged legal segregation in America and the institutional structures resulting in racial inequality and poverty. Entrenched privilege does not surrender its privilege easily. The Occupy Movement is a spirit and in many ways is addressing the same ills Dr. King sought to combat. Occupy is taking on the most powerful interests. But nothing, as Victor Hugo wrote, is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. As Dr. King urged, 'Don't sleep through the revolution.' It is time to take a stand." King in Chicago Part 2: Daley denies there are slums in Chicago - then pledges to eliminate them within a year. Part 3: Daley's private feelings about King are revealed. Conclusion: A battle between two very different visions of Chicago. * "Many ministers who were with us had to back off because they didn't want their buildings to be condemned or given citations for electrical work, faulty plumbing, or fire code violations." - Rev. Clay Evans, via History Discarded, History Preserved - The Different Fate Of Two Chicago Churches Associated With Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Occupy The Dream The Rooftop Pastor - Today In White Guilt - Mental Ward Room Yikes. But this really took it over the top: I'm not sure any of the pols McClelland covers would survive that. Packers Still (Way) Better Than Bears Tribute To The Fish Of Lake Michigan Naty's Barber & Beauty Shop The Weekend in Chicago Rock Frontline Books vs. U of C King Day Celebration Programming Note - The Beachwood Tip Line: Dare to dream. Posted on January 16, 2012 |
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