Today marks the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Thousands of people - including presidential candidates, activists and civil rights leaders - are commemorating King's life in Memphis today, where he was killed.
"Here was a man who understood nonviolence at a depth that I had never known before," said C.T. Vivian, a former King associate....King advised his followers to keep working for equal rights for all citizens, "to keep on moving," no matter what obstacles they faced, [writer Cynthia Griggs] Fleming said in a talk Thursday at a Memphis church.
"Don't be so consumed by the pain that you don't hear the message," she said.
There's a picture of MLK that I love, I hadn't seen it until my boyfriend moved in and hung it in our bedroom - it's of King sleeping. And while the pictures and videos of him speaking are amazing - I like to remember not only how important King was for the country and for the civil rights movement, but also that he was a person. A person who got tired, who got sad, who was complex - someone who was much more than just a symbol. And I guess that picture reminds me of that.
If anyone would like to share thoughts about King and today's sad anniversary, please do so in comments. Below are two videos; the first is King's last speech, the second is Robert Kennedy announcing King's death.
For more on today's anniversary, see Pam's House Blend and Think Progress.
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To be honest, I was surprised to find a salute to King on this website. I admire him for his work in civil rights, but from my understanding his treatment of women was rather flawed. Most obvious case in point is his affairs with other women. I know that this is really a private issue between him and his wife, but nevertheless... I just watched the movie Malcolm X recently, and the part where Malcolm is talking to his wife on the phone and the CIA guys listening in comment to each other, "Boy, compared to King, this guy's a monk," really got to me. So I'm wondering, what role did women have in King's organizations? Were they relegated to secretarial positions and sandwich-making? I haven't read anything about that, so I'm curious.
I was thrilled to find this touching tribute to Martin Luther King on feministing. We all admire King for his work in the civil rights movement, but as Jessica said, he was much more than a symbol. To me, this symbolism is a doubled edged sword; while it’s wonderful to elevate his accomplishments and ideals, we have also simplified the man into this mythic creature that never existed. His work went beyond the civil rights movement, but we rarely hear about his stance against the Vietnam War, or his work in the poor people’s movement. We also rarely hear about his flaws (that he had affairs), or that he was often tired, scared, and angry. The fact that he wasn’t perfect makes me admire him even more. This is a man who dedicated his life to a philosophy of social change through non violence. I don’t admire him for cheating on his wife, but I certainly don’t think that’s reason enough for feministing to not honor him. I also don’t think it’s as hypocritical as say, owning slaves when you’re writing the declaration of independence.
Also, women played a prominent role in the civil rights movement. I would recommend watching “Eyes on The Prize� (about the civil rights movement) or the “This Far by Faith� (about African Americans and religion) series that aired on PBS. They aren’t focused on women, but you really can see just how many amazing women there are. Black women struggled with sexism in the civil rights movement, just as they struggled with racism in the women’s rights movement. Also, in the MLK coverage on theroot, there’s a great article about black women and the impact that these violent acts against black men have on them http://www.theroot.com/id/45615.
At a time when our nation is torturing people in the name of democracy, killing people in a war that has no particular goal or end that can be quantified, when our nation's economy is a disaster, when the feds will take on 30 Billion dollars of bad debt to bail out a bank but nothing to bail out struggling home owners who are in danger of losing their homes... King's words and his strong anti-war stance are important. His dreams of a society where your income level and skin color didn't dictate your right to be treated with decency and to basic humanity are sorely lacking in today's world.
I think that a lot of people don't know or forget that King was in Memphis to show support for striking black sanitation workers who were protesting the shitty conditions they were forced to work in.
Like I said on my own blog, we're worse for having lost such a great man too soon, but infinitely better for having known him at all.
"To be honest, I was surprised to find a salute to King on this website. I admire him for his work in civil rights, but from my understanding his treatment of women was rather flawed..."
Check this out:
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/the-reverend-martin-luther-king-jr.htm
"His work went beyond the civil rights movement, but we rarely hear about his stance against the Vietnam War, or his work in the poor people’s movement."
That reminds me of how Einstein didn't only do physics but we don't hear about his work with Paul Robeson against lynching (see http://www.einsteinonrace.com/ ).
Dr. King stood for the American ideal that all people are created equal and paid for that with his life. Does his committing adultery really blemish his heroic struggle for human rights? Is adultery a feminist issue (I confess my ignorance on this point) such that an otherwise good person can be discounted for it?
The saints among us are few. And though an atheist I often reflect on the admonition in the Sermon on the Mount against passing judgment on others (while often hypocritically doing just that).
I am sad more people didn't comment in this post.
Democracy Now! has a great tribute to him on the 4th. In the show they touch upon the the complexity and the struggle that MLK faced, which Jessica mentions. That he got discouraged and sometimes thought about bowing out, but stayed. Also, in the Kennedy video he says "What kind of America do we want to live in?" I know what kind I want, and well, we are severely below par.
I read this blog everyday and rarely comment, but I want to thank Feministing.com for the education and guidance, so I can be a better citizen.