Comments on: MLK http://crookedtimber.org/2008/04/04/mlk/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:39:38 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: engels http://crookedtimber.org/2008/04/04/mlk/comment-page-1/#comment-235422 engels Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:09:34 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=6791#comment-235422 <i>this is also what is extremely unsavory about the Obama campaign. It is all about him ... He is a leader, we are his followers.</i> Well, he <i>is</i> running for President... this is also what is extremely unsavory about the Obama campaign. It is all about him … He is a leader, we are his followers.

Well, he is running for President…

]]> By: Person http://crookedtimber.org/2008/04/04/mlk/comment-page-1/#comment-235291 Person Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:35:05 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=6791#comment-235291 Oh yes, you just gotta love that whole philosophy (hm, preview not appearing...) about how we're gonna fix the system with NON-VIOLENT "direct action", we're gonna be non-violent, and we're going to use direct action, yep yep yep that's how it's gonna be. We see it in Greenpeace, trumpeting their philsophy of non-violent, non-violent, direct direct action, that's how they're going to bring about change. Never mind that their definition of "non-violent" includes playing deafening sounds on stock exchange floors, boarding ships at sea, and throwing paint at people, that's okay because it's non-violent, and it's direct action. Oh yes, you just gotta love that whole philosophy (hm, preview not appearing…) about how we’re gonna fix the system with NON-VIOLENT “direct action”, we’re gonna be non-violent, and we’re going to use direct action, yep yep yep that’s how it’s gonna be. We see it in Greenpeace, trumpeting their philsophy of non-violent, non-violent, direct direct action, that’s how they’re going to bring about change.

Never mind that their definition of “non-violent” includes playing deafening sounds on stock exchange floors, boarding ships at sea, and throwing paint at people, that’s okay because it’s non-violent, and it’s direct action.

]]> By: Angry African on the Loose http://crookedtimber.org/2008/04/04/mlk/comment-page-1/#comment-235076 Angry African on the Loose Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:26:31 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=6791#comment-235076 I never noticed it before. It has been there for a while. This picture of Martin Luther King Jr on our fridge door. I hardly look at the fridge door, but there it was. Amongst all the fridge magnets and numbers and pictures of the kids. But what made me stop was that the picture was of a white Martin Luther King Jr. My young daughter made this great man white. And I couldn’t be prouder. I think he would be proud. I know she will continue to live his dream. http://angryafrican.net/2008/03/16/martin-luther-king-jr-is-white/ I never noticed it before. It has been there for a while. This picture of Martin Luther King Jr on our fridge door. I hardly look at the fridge door, but there it was. Amongst all the fridge magnets and numbers and pictures of the kids. But what made me stop was that the picture was of a white Martin Luther King Jr. My young daughter made this great man white. And I couldn’t be prouder. I think he would be proud. I know she will continue to live his dream. http://angryafrican.net/2008/03/16/martin-luther-king-jr-is-white/

]]> By: engels http://crookedtimber.org/2008/04/04/mlk/comment-page-1/#comment-235071 engels Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:34:19 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=6791#comment-235071 Could somebody tell Perlstein that he really needs to get <i>Before the Storm</i> re-issued? I've been wanting to read it for ages but the second-hand prices are extortionate... Could somebody tell Perlstein that he really needs to get Before the Storm re-issued? I’ve been wanting to read it for ages but the second-hand prices are extortionate…

]]> By: nick s http://crookedtimber.org/2008/04/04/mlk/comment-page-1/#comment-235058 nick s Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:40:41 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=6791#comment-235058 <i>David Brooks take note.</i> As if. David Brooks take note.

As if.

]]> By: Sortition http://crookedtimber.org/2008/04/04/mlk/comment-page-1/#comment-235025 Sortition Sat, 05 Apr 2008 05:28:11 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=6791#comment-235025 But... the practice of MLK-worship (celebration, scholarship, child and adult education) is in itself anti-radical (whether it is worship of the mainstream defanged version of MLK or it is of his true, radical self). It reinforces the idea that people need "leaders". Rather than focusing on ideas, and on the situation, wishes, thoughts and actions of the people, hero worship focuses on certain special individuals, sending the masses to the background. This ideology is the bedrock of our hierarchical, anti-democratic society. BTW, this is also what is extremely unsavory about the Obama campaign. It is all about him - how different and visionary and articulate and wise and generally great he is - and how he (as someone wrote on this website recently) is going to make us better as well. He is not there to carry out our wishes, he is the sculptor who is going to mold us. He is a leader, we are his followers. But… the practice of MLK-worship (celebration, scholarship, child and adult education) is in itself anti-radical (whether it is worship of the mainstream defanged version of MLK or it is of his true, radical self). It reinforces the idea that people need “leaders”.

Rather than focusing on ideas, and on the situation, wishes, thoughts and actions of the people, hero worship focuses on certain special individuals, sending the masses to the background. This ideology is the bedrock of our hierarchical, anti-democratic society.

BTW, this is also what is extremely unsavory about the Obama campaign. It is all about him – how different and visionary and articulate and wise and generally great he is – and how he (as someone wrote on this website recently) is going to make us better as well. He is not there to carry out our wishes, he is the sculptor who is going to mold us. He is a leader, we are his followers.

]]> By: Luke http://crookedtimber.org/2008/04/04/mlk/comment-page-1/#comment-234954 Luke Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:48:56 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=6791#comment-234954 Or Nick Kotz' "Judgment Days" which I finished this morning. It's an absolutely fantastic show of the development of MLK and LBJ, focusing on the period between Kennedy and King's assassination, tracking the divergence between LBJ's fantasies of social reforms, and King's shift further outside the mainstream with each turn. Also, oh-so-highly-readable, without the sacrifice of any of the goodies Or Nick Kotz’ “Judgment Days” which I finished this morning.

It’s an absolutely fantastic show of the development of MLK and LBJ, focusing on the period between Kennedy and King’s assassination, tracking the divergence between LBJ’s fantasies of social reforms, and King’s shift further outside the mainstream with each turn.

Also, oh-so-highly-readable, without the sacrifice of any of the goodies

]]> By: Doug http://crookedtimber.org/2008/04/04/mlk/comment-page-1/#comment-234935 Doug Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:45:31 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=6791#comment-234935 Henry, check out Taylor Branch's biography, too. Not just radical King but where he came from. Parting the Waters is an amazing book. Henry, check out Taylor Branch’s biography, too. Not just radical King but where he came from. Parting the Waters is an amazing book.

]]> By: Steve LaBonne http://crookedtimber.org/2008/04/04/mlk/comment-page-1/#comment-234913 Steve LaBonne Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:19:26 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=6791#comment-234913 <blockquote>Perhaps it’s inevitable that the King is remembered and celebrated as a visionary, but that his actual vision is completely ignored.</blockquote>That's what we do in this country to the legacy of radicals who can't just be slid down the memory hole. But to me the courage King showed in promoting a genuinely radical vision- and thereby knowingly alienating a large proportion of his former supporters (starting with Lyndon Johnson after King came out publicly against the Vietnam war)- is exactly what marks him out as a truly great man. He could so easily have rested on his laurels, and allowed himself to be co-opted as an establishment celebrity. He's still ahead of even our time, but I retain my faith that we'll catch up to him someday. Maybe not in my lifetime, though.
Perhaps it’s inevitable that the King is remembered and celebrated as a visionary, but that his actual vision is completely ignored.
That’s what we do in this country to the legacy of radicals who can’t just be slid down the memory hole.

But to me the courage King showed in promoting a genuinely radical vision- and thereby knowingly alienating a large proportion of his former supporters (starting with Lyndon Johnson after King came out publicly against the Vietnam war)- is exactly what marks him out as a truly great man. He could so easily have rested on his laurels, and allowed himself to be co-opted as an establishment celebrity.

He’s still ahead of even our time, but I retain my faith that we’ll catch up to him someday. Maybe not in my lifetime, though.

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