AnythingUrban - by R Eldridge

Martin Luther King Matters in 2012

Did you know that Martin Luther King and the father of President Obama share a connection?

Among the admirers of Martin Luther King was Kenyan scholar Professor Ali Mazrui, a holder of the Albert Schweitzer Chair in the Humanities and the director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University in New York. In the early 1960s, he was a graduate student at Columbia University staying at International House, a residence for specially selected international graduate students of several New York City institutions of higher learning.

One night, a small number of students from I-House, as it’s called, were invited to a dinner that was to be addressed by the civil rights leader. Mazrui says later that evening, he talked with King about Kenya – especially its early days of independence, and Tom Mboya, an influential labor leader and government minister. In 1959, Mboya helped 81 Kenyan students go to the United States for university study. Among them was the father of President Barack Obama.

“[King] knew quite a bit about Kenya,” said Mazrui. “We discussed its march towards independence. He knew of Mboya, the second most famous Kenyan at the time, and they knew each other very well. In retrospect, it was very sad that both were assassinated. That was a fate they shared, eventually.”

Martin Luther King stood up for the poor... but why does our media ignore this part of his life?

In his last months, King was organizing the most militant project of his life: the Poor People's Campaign. He crisscrossed the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would descend on Washington — engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol, if need be — until Congress enacted a poor people's bill of rights. Several news agencies warned of an "insurrection."

Almost all of Martin Luther King  speeches were filmed or taped. But they're not shown today on TV.

Why?

It's because national news media have never come to terms with what Martin Luther King Jr. stood for during his final years.

In the early 1960s, when King focused his challenge on legalized racial discrimination in the South, most major media were his allies. Network TV and national publications graphically showed the police dogs and bullwhips and cattle prods used against Southern blacks who sought the right to vote or to eat at a public lunch counter.

But after passage of civil rights acts in 1964 and 1965, King began challenging the nation's fundamental priorities. He maintained that civil rights laws were empty without "human rights" — including economic rights. For people too poor to eat at a restaurant or afford a decent home, King said, anti-discrimination laws were hollow.

Noting that a majority of Americans below the poverty line were white, King developed a class perspective. He decried the huge income gaps between rich and poor, and called for "radical changes in the structure of our society" to redistribute wealth and power.

"True compassion," King declared, "is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."

So how do we balance the legacy of Martin Luther King from its lack of transparency in today's society?

My perspectives:

1. Martin Luther King should never be adorned on any person's invitation to party. The holiday is commemorated as a national day of service. 

"If you've used MLK to promote your party, you damn well better make a donation to his foundation, play excerpts from one of his speeches, do something at that party to commemorate the man."

2. Memphis officials on Thursday, January 12, 2012 finally approved naming a city street after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., nearly 44 years after the civil rights leader was killed in the city.  This measure has been long overdue, and serves as a sobering reminder that change is a principal that we must continue to challenge. 

"In 2011, when America releases a movie about the racist J. Edgar Hoover, which becomes fully financed and distibuted in movie theaters around the US, it bears to question our country's moral fiber in consideration that Martin Luther King has not been commemorated in not one single movie theater."

3. America's pasttime should have done something to commemorate Martin Luther King on his birthday. The National Football League missed a golden opportunity yesterday by not acknowledging his birthday on gameday; but the NBA has not forgotten.

Four years before the government recognized this day as a national holiday, the NBA was honoring the memory of Dr. King. Commissioner David Stern has been a member of the King Federal Holiday Commission, and the league has closed its offices since 1987 to observe the day.

NBA teams have long taken part in the tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. In the past, teams have made donations to the King Center, produced television tributes, as well as contributed scholarship money to children across the county. Let your children take advantage of this learning experience.

4. King's economic bill of rights called for massive government jobs programs to rebuild America's cities. He saw a crying need to confront a Congress that had demonstrated its "hostility to the poor" — appropriating "military funds with alacrity and generosity," but providing "poverty funds with miserliness."

How familiar does that sounds today?

The national unemployment rate is 9.1 percent, but the rate for Hispanics is 11 percent. For African-Americans, it's 16 percent. The Senate voted Obama's jobs bill down last week, but many speakers at the rally said they support both his bill and his re-election. Our efforts in helping the human condition cannot be a "symbolic" show of support, but must be aligned with the efforts of those that have fought long before us.

5. Given the Martin luther King monument’s significance as a place for enabling the ‘teachable moment,’ it’s also important to share with humility and humbleness from deep inside.

“If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice, say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it." ~Martin Luther King Jr.

Freedom...

 I am happy to announce that I am "virally" free once again.  In appreciation of friends and others  who have made countless inquiries regarding my status, I would just like to take a second to share that yes, I am safe.  My freedom of speech was threatened, and it scared the skittles out of me.  Allow me to elaborate a little bit.

An attorney group known as Righthaven LLC had filed 57 lawsuits against writers and bloggers - and I was amongst this group. These suits alleged websites, message board posters and bloggers had used a Post TSA pat-down photo without permission -- even though the photo had gone viral on the Internet, was distributed to news outlets by The Associated Press and many defendants said they had no idea it came from Denver or the Denver Post and was subject to copyright protection. The article that I wrote - which resulted in this action taken against me can be read here.

In short, I was asked to pay a small sum, to the tune of almost $1 million dollars to make this problem go away, or show up in court to contest this alleged frivolous offense of copyright enfringement. I was subsequently fielded with interview requests (The Denver Post, ironically was amongst one of the requestees), and as one of the first handful of bloggers being summoned, fellow bloggers and writers reached out to me to find out my intentions. My name was viral on many internet portals, on dockets, legal papers and general publications.  At this point, I began to feel uneasy and concerned about this - but the reputation of my name was equally concerning. I did not know what to do at this point.

The lawsuit was filed in January 2011. The Righthaven lawsuit grew to include over 200 withing a five month period. Over several months during this time I was transitioning between jobs.  While I did not feel comfortable sharing this matter with a prospective employee, I knew this would not be a good look at all if a simple google search was performed on my name. 

A full list of lawsuits filed under Righthaven can be seen here. (I am #217)

As several bloggers began the process of contesting the charges filed in Las Vegas, NV, it was not clear how much money and time was spent, but I did learn that no one was found liable at this point. My optimism rested on the hope that this would continue, but something better happened. 

A stay of execution was issued by the judge presiding over the case in May 2011, pending resolution of a motion to dismiss. This afforded me time to either reach out to Righthaven to reach some form of settlement, or wait for my day in court to arrive.

I decided to give this some more time, stay low, and defer from blogging for awhile. I also spoke with an attorney that suggested that I countersue.

In October 2011, the judge made a sweeping decision. Righthaven LLC of Las Vegas lacked standing to file copyright infringement lawsuits in Colorado under its lawsuit contract with the Denver Post and it was determined that they abused the Copyright Act in doing so. Not only was my case dismissed, but over 200 similar cases against other writers and bloggers (David Duke was also a plaintiff) were also dismissed. The judge also ordered monies to be returned to reimburse plaintiff costs, and I am sure that others will be countersuing.

Me? I want the Denver Post to simply give me a few tickets to the Denver Bronco playoff game this weekend, but I'm sure this request would be declined. I'll happily accept divine intervention.   

Or maybe it was Tebow.

So let's chalk one up for the little guy. I prevailed in one of my greatest blog battles to date, and I just want to take time to thank God, plus the 200+ fellow writers and bloggers that battled with me to take down these guys and stand up for their rights. I really did nothing, it was those that appeared in court to contest the charges, and it was their efforts in standing up for their sovereign rights that helped us all to win in the end. 

Translation:

“It's exciting, a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. It's an awesome experience. I just try to work hard and run the offense as good as possible. I had a lot of guys around me who made a lot of good plays to help me out.”
- Tim Tebow

Thanks friends.  I'm back.

Freedom Riders... Are Innovators

 
On May 4, 1961, the first Freedom Ride left Washington D.C. en route to New Orleans to fulfill a purpose.  Their purpose?  To test a Supreme Court decision that outlawed racial segregation in public places.  They also set out to challenge the status quo by challenging those that fervently sought to keep America divided.  Riders were ultimately arrested for trespassing, unlawful assembly, and violating state and local Jim Crow laws. 

Ironically, a United States Supreme Court decision granted travelers the legal right to disregard local segregation ordinances, but the Freedom Riders' rights were not enforced, and their actions were considered criminal acts throughout the South.  Their journey ended with imprisonment for exercising their legal right.  Yes, their legal right was taken as an exception.  But nevertheless, these Riders' were ultimately succcessful in bolstering the credibility of the American Civil Rights Movement.  This heroic act resulted in freedoms that we enjoy everyday. I call this innovation.  According to Wikipedia:

Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society. Innovation differs from invention in that innovation refers to the use of a new idea or method, whereas invention refers more directly to the creation of the idea or method itself.

This group was not alone in recognizing a need to foster an idea. I invite you to view important events in the Civil Right Movement that occurred between 1941 and 1962, check this out.

Fast forward to today's era, which many call The Age of Innovation. 

The advancement of technology and social media, from music, business, and even politics continue to evolve in ways that impact and drive our innovative spirit. I remember walking into a board room meeting where the faces were Black, Brown, Tan, and White.  I also remember February 2, 2009, Inauguration Day, when the first Black President walked onto a podium on a cold day in Washington D.C. to speak to the world.  The theme for his Inauguration Day speech, "A New Birth of Freedom," was in honor of the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.  As Obama shared the spirit of our growth as a nation from the convergence of our past, it really became surreal in seeing this celebration that brought so many generations together.  Which begs me to ask:

What drives your spirit to innovate?