MLK Occupied!

[Luminous Animal]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002253760#post14
http://www.communitywalk.com/location/chicago_freedom_movement_slum_building/info/162702

In February 1966, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other representatives of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the West Side Federation, and the Chicago Coaliton of Community Organizations took over the management of this six-flat "slum building." The eighty-one-year-old building owner John Bender told the Chicago Tribune that of the six buildings he owned, the one King had taken over was, a "white elephant," and that he would be "more than happy to give it to [King] if he would take over the mortgage." King argued that the legality of their actions paled in comparison to the "moral question" of helping to clean up "slum" housing. (emphasis mine)

[Luminous Animal]

1. As he was focusing on war and poverty King had almost 3/4 of the U.S people turn against him.

http://www.accuracy.org/release/martin-luther-king-and-the-decline-of-black-politics/

“I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government. … There is something strangely inconsistent about a nation and a press that would praise you when you say, ‘Be nonviolent toward [segregationist Selma, Ala. sheriff] Jim Clark!’ but will curse and damn you when you say, ‘Be nonviolent toward little brown Vietnamese children!’ There is something wrong with that press! …

“I’m convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. … When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation are incapable of being conquered. A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our present policies. … True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth with righteous indignation.”

[freshwest]

5. +1,000

[inna]

4. thank you, Luminous! - you, along with a few others, make DU worthwhile

(and... you have such good, positive, 'energy', too!.. - but i'm sure you already know that! )


edited to add: too bad you self-deleted those two posts; DU (nearly desperately, imo) needs *more* Luminous posts, not *less*!!

[Luminous Animal]

8. Thanks, inna. It's good to remember how radical MLK was and how he and

his compatriots forged ahead. He was all about taking over private property to realize justice for the poor. He was all about occupying public spaces to amplify the sheer number of people who cared about our collective well being.

[limpyhobbler]

6. I like these MLK/Occupy threads

It gives an important historical perspective on our current situation.

[sudopod]

7. kick kick kick kickety kick

He's gonna turn people against us with this radical talk, I tell ya!

[countryjake]

9. Kick to honor Dr. King today!

A brave and determined man!