King's Dream In Today's Economy
Highlights From WNYC's Special MLK Event
Monday, January 17, 2011
Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking to AFSCME in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 18, 1968
On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, WNYC presented the fourth annual celebration of the civil rights leader at the Brooklyn Museum. Some of the panelists were members of King’s generation who knew him personally, and some were younger activists, artists, and scholars who have been inspired by his legacy and vision. They included Roy Innis, Obery Hendricks, Christine Yvette Lewis, Jeanne Theoharis, Peniel Joseph, and Natalia Aristizabal-Betancur.
Obery Hendricks, a Professor of Biblical Interpretation at New York Theological Seminary, said that King was always concerned with class and economic rights, and his concern showed itself while he was in his teens.
During summers off from college, King, the privileged preacher's kid, worked in factories, hauled furniture at a mattress company, and worked at railway express, not because he needed the money...because he wanted to learn about workers problems and their feelings.
Hendricks noted that the full title of the famous 1963 March on Washington was the "March on Washington for Jobs and Justice," and "he made it clear to all assembled that economic rights were just as crucial for him as civil rights." Hendricks pointed out that the day King died, he was fighting for a living wage among sanitation workers in Memphis.
Many of the activists at the event spoke about the struggle of domestic workers, particularly immigrants, as the gaping civil rights issue of the 21st century, and surmised that Dr. King would have been on their side. "King is really one of the most passionate advocates not just for unions but also for domestic workers and also welfare rights activists," said Peniel Joseph, associate professor of African American Studies and History at Brandeis University.
Natalia Aristizabal-Betancur, an organizer at Make the Road by Walking, an immigrant rights organization, said King would have supported the dreams of undocumented youth who want to contribute to the American economy, and the DREAM Act. "Tons of youths I work with are hiding from the cops, who are in their house saying, 'I want to be a doctor, I really want to go to this school, but I'm not allowed to go to this school because I'm undocumented, and I can't pay because I'm not supposed to work and I don't get financial aid," she said.
What issues do you think would be important to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. if he were alive today? Post your comments here on It's a Free Country.
Comments [12]
MLK didn't die...!
He was assassinated...!
Brian! Such a great show and a fitting, thoughtful tribute! But when you had Grammy Award winner Christian McBride playing as part of the ceremony yesterday, how could you pass up the opportunity to share his music with your listeners?? Especially since Dr. King loved and respected jazz and since McBride's music is so brilliant . . .
Brian! Such a great show and a fitting, thoughtful tribute! But when you had Grammy Award winner Christian McBride playing as part of the ceremony yesterday, how could you pass up the opportunity to share his music with your listeners?? Especially since Dr. King loved and respected jazz and since McBride's music is so brilliant . . .
The discussion about how to achieve equality in the eye of economic inequality between the very rich and the ones fighting for workers rights. The point that is being missed is that a lot of the very rich are the benefactors to quite a few of these non for profits. I think that putting all rich in one basket doesn't help at all in the national discussion. It shows to me that we are still trying to divide this country, instead of uniting behind common causes and common sense. True is that greed exists in the upper crust, but the middle and lower classes make themselves guilty of complacency, the poor man's greed.
I find all of this talk to be tedious.
Get an education. Stop shooting each other. Stop having children outside of marriage and with multiple partners. Stop taking drugs. Stop smoking cigarettes. Stop buying junk food. Stop joining gangs.
99.9% of the violence and destruction in the black community is committed BY black people AGAINST black people.
Stop killing yourselves.
How embarrassing for Dr. King that these thoroughly second rate, borderline idiotic speakers have been selected to discuss his life and legacy today. He would have fallen over laughing (were he alive) to here himself described as an Rodney King-Esque" figure by anyone, much less by a supposedly educated person. If anything this sort of nonsensical event confirms the utter failure of MLK's dream of building a country where one is judged by the content of their character, including by implication their intellect, because if it weren;t for fact these speakers are black they wouldn't be ask to speak publicly at ANY event, ever. Sorry, had to be said, seriously, what a joke.
I hope that the important place of economic issues in Dr. King's work continues to gain more notice.
It's important to realize this, exactly because economic issues are at the heart of what's ailing us today. Any objective examination of statistics on the distribution of wealth in our society, on stagnant or falling real spending power of the vast majority of Americans, must highlight how much trouble we're in, and how Dr. King's call for economic justice is just as relevant now as it was then, if not more so.
Economics has been used to divide races in America; but it can also work the other way. But we need courageous and principled leaders to advocate for the changes needed to pay attention to the majority of Americans, who are hurting today.
[[Maggie from Brooklyn
...seeing them reminded me there is no broad movement for such justice as there was in King's day. There are many reasons for that, but one of them is the absence of a leader of King's caliber. Where do such people come from? Do the times we live in allow for broad leadership or does the emergence of once-in-a-lifetime leadership come down to luck? Jan. 17 2011 10:23 AM]]
With regard to the black community, take note of urban school systems with dropout rates for black males approaching 60%.
Blacks are being left in the dust. Blame the parents, blame bloated school bureaucracies, blame the students themselves.
2 MLK quotes to consider today, especially regarding social justice.
"We have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifices. Capitalism was built on the exploitation of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor."
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Brian Lehrer seemed unfamiliar with Christian social justice teaching last week. One might read 'Rerum novarum', the encyclical of Pope Leo XIII in the late 1800s that sets the foundation for Catholic social thought in the modern world. See the recent 'Compendium of the social doctrine of the church' (2004).
I also attended yesterday and thought it was excellent, in particular including people who are actively organizing for economic justice today. But seeing them reminded me there is no broad movement for such justice as there was in King's day. There are many reasons for that, but one of them is the absence of a leader of King's caliber. Where do such people come from? Do the times we live in allow for broad leadership or does the emergence of once-in-a-lifetime leadership come down to luck?
Brian,
My wife and I attended the event at the Brooklyn Museum. Unfortunately, my cell phone battery died and i couldnt text my comments. It was a great program- I thought both professors were on point on King's historical contribution. I thought Terrence McKnight's insights on KIng integral use of music during the civils rights struggles were brilliant.
I was disappointed by Roy Innis short appearance on the program. I understand he is suffering from some debilitating condition but I thought his comments were trite, evasive and not very informative. I was almost tempted to stand up and ask him if he was packing a pistol(since he is an NRA Gun advocate)
Finally, I thought the comparison to King as a prophet that was made by the panelist was keen. In the Letter to a Birmingham Jail, King ,in fact, compares himself to the apostle paul someone compelled to do what he doues as missionery work. King saw himself first and foremost as a minister. The Civil rights movement was not a secular humanist movement to him, he saw it within the context of his Christian faith faith. I think your listeners should take the day to read The Letter from a Birmingham Jail, it is in my opinion his magnum opus work on non-violence, civil disobedience, and the future of the civil rights movement.
Manolin "Manny" Tirado
adjunct Lecturer, Political Science Netropolitan College of New York
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