Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is one of
my heroes. Dr. King was a true American Patriot, and incredibly courageous leader. The fact that he dared to dream,
and encouraged others to dare to dream - of a better society - where everyone would be treated fairly and justly, where
everyone could live where they wished, enjoy a decent wage for their labor, receive a decent education, and, in his words,
“my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by
the content of their character”. But, unlike many “leaders”, Martin Luther King, Jr. not
only “talked the talk”, but he had the courage to “walk the walk". J. Edgar Hoover, deceased
former head of the FBI and an incredibly unabashed bigot, called Dr. King “un-American”, a “communist”
and one of the “most dangerous men in America”. But then, I suppose Dr. King probably was “dangerous”
to a corrupt, racist, evil, intolerant man like J. Edgar Hoover. After all, Dr. King wanted freedom, justice and
fair treatment for everyone . . . . not just a few privileged white folks; while Hoover felt the black man should “stay
in his place” (whatever that means). Hoover led a disgraceful, scurrilous attempt to discredit Martin Luther King by
providing alleged audio tapes and photographs that “proved” Dr. King was a “womanizer”.
However, it was later proved these alleged tapes and photographs were phony. They had been “doctored” by
the FBI in a brazen effort to silence Dr. King. Oh, well . . . so much for the character of J. Edgar Hoover. In
my opinion, Hoover wouldn't recognize character, even if it came up and bit him on the ass. Martin Luther King,
Jr. is, in my opinion, one of the greatest, most courageous men in history. Unfortunately, he was murdered for his courage
and beliefs. . . . just as so many before him, and so many after him, will continue to die for their efforts to make
this a better, more just, world. I hope readers will enjoy, and maybe even be enlightened, by the musings on this courageous
man that follow. I have such a deep admiration, and unequivocal respect, for Martin Luther King, Jr., that I am
dedicating an entire page on this website to his memory. - The Mighty Mitchman
His birth name is Michael Luther Kings Jr. but he was later
renamed Martin and his father called him M.L.
Martin was so intelligent he skipped the 9th and 12th
grades and entered Morehouse College when he was 15.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered this speech
on August 28, 1963, on the steps of the Washington, D.C., Lincoln Memorial during the march on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
On Apr. 4, 1968,he was shot and killed as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. James Earl Ray, a career
criminal, pleaded guilty to the murder and was convicted, but he soon recanted, claiming he was duped into his plea.
Please
click on "I Have A Dream" to view one of the greatest speeches in history.
The Other Dr. King
Each year we hear of many well deserved tributes to Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., who was one of the great Americans of the 20th century. But if someone looked closely at the records they
would ask, if one only followed the media, did Dr. King die in 1965 or in 1968? There seems to be a three- year gap where
the efforts of Dr. King are never discussed. Why don't they ever mention what happened after 1965?
This is because the national media refuses to come to grips
with what Dr. King stood for in his final years. Soon after the passage of the civil rights bills of 1964 and 1965, Dr. King
began to assert that the just recently passed laws were meaningless without basic "human rights." Dr. King began to go in
another direction. He said that the right to a job, the right to afford a decent home were the next stages of the civil rights
movement. He began to talk about a radical redistribution of "political wealth and economic power."
What Dr. King was trying to do was move beyond the civil rights
movement and into the area of class perspective. He understood that the majority of Americans below the poverty line were
white. Dr. King spoke out against the wide disparity between the rich and the poor. "True compassion," said Dr. King. "Is
more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see an edifice, which produces beggars, needs restructuring."
He began to question the war in Vietnam and the whole direction
of American foreign policy. In his "Beyond Vietnam" speech at Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, a year before he was murdered,
Dr. King described the United States as "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." He said that we were on the
wrong side of the revolutions across the globe. Dr. King argued that the U.S. was suppressing justified revolts instead of
helping them. King maintained that the West was investing "huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take
the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries.
For this he was denounced by the national press. The Washington
Post said that "King has diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people." The New York Times called it "demagogic
slander." The liberals, who had started the war in Vietnam, attacked him as well. They were joined by academics like John
P. Roche of the Americans for Democratic Action who commented to President Johnson that Dr. King's speech "indicates that
King, in desperate search for a constituency, has thrown in with the commies...The civil rights movement is shot, broke and
disorganized and King who is inordinately ambitious and quite stupid (a bad combination) is thus looking for a promising future."
Black columnist and CIA operative Carl Rowen said Dr. King was
"more interested in embarrassing the United States than in the plight of either the Negro or the war weary people of Vietnam."
Other Johnson aids said civil disobedience was really "criminal disobedience" and warned against the upcoming "Poor Peoples
March." The march would assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would descend on Washington and use tactics of nonviolent
civil disobedience until Congress enacted a "Poor People's" bill of rights. The Readers Digest labeled it as an "insurrection."
Dr. King was asking for a massive job program that would rebuild
American cities. He felt the need to confront a Congress which had displayed its "hostility to the poor." He said the Congress
appropriated "military funds with alacrity and generosity and poverty funds with miserliness." Unfortunately, that sounds
as accurate today as in 1968. When people speak about justice for the poor, they are said to be inviting class warfare, when
missile defense systems are made for no other reason than to line the pockets of defense contractors, that is called the public
interest.
Maybe that is why they refuse to tell us about the last years
of Dr. King's life. Dr. King died in a labor struggle, fighting so that garbage workers could earn a decent living, rather
than working forty hours a week and still qualify for food stamps. This is the Dr. King that they never tell us about in the
mass media. Perhaps, that should be of no surprise considering what little attention they pay to the plight of millions of
Americans and the hatred they have shown to organized labor throughout the years. It's not that the press lies, it's just
that they never tell the whole truth.
Sources: Film, The FBI's War On Black America. Film,
The Assassination of Martin Luther King David
J. Garrow, The FBI and Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. King And The Leader In The Mirror By Arianna Huffington
In this time of lilliputian public figures -- calling Tom Daschle, paging Denny
Hastert -- the life of Martin Luther King, whose birth we celebrate this week, stands out in sharp relief. Even decades
after his death, the lessons he can teach us are of indestructible value. They are lessons of courage, justice and tolerance.
And especially of the meaning of authentic leadership.
Unlike our most highly regarded presidents - Washington, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt
and FDR - whose source of power came from their position, King's leadership grew out of his moral authority and ability
to inspire. He was the ultimate internal leader.
External leadership is when you effectively carry out the responsibilities of
your position -- as Rudy Giuliani did so memorably on Sept. 11. Internal leadership comes from an inner force
that compels you to make the world a better place.
``There comes a time,'' King said in 1968, ``when one must take the position that
is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right.'' Unlike so many
of our leaders today, King was steered by an internal compass, not the latest poll results. He didn't draw his power base
from elected office but from his ability to capture and express the dreams of a disenfranchised and restive mass of people.
``I Have a Dream'' was actually ``We have a Dream.''
As Mahatma Gandhi, whose life served as one of King's greatest inspirations, put
it: ``Transformation begins when a vision that belongs to one person becomes one that belongs to many.''
In the months since Sept. 11, we've witnessed a mushrooming need to transform
ourselves and our society -- to reassess our priorities and to find some purpose in our lives beyond success and money, and,
indeed, beyond failure and a pink slip. And we've come to realize that even though there is a certain kind of external leadership
that can only be provided from Washington, we can no longer delegate our need for leadership to elected officials alone. Now,
more than ever, we must learn to mine the greatest and most unexploited leadership resource available to us: ourselves. We
need to find the next generation of leaders by looking in the mirror. Each one of us can -- and must -- take up the gauntlet
to solve the problems and right the wrongs of our times.
As Martin Luther King demonstrated, you don't have to lead vast nations or command
huge armies to make a difference. In fact, it can be an asset not to fit the traditional paradigm of leadership. Because leadership
is, after all, about breaking those old paradigms -- about seeing where society is stuck and providing ways to get it unstuck.
And, if society is stuck at the very heart of the old leadership paradigm -- Washington, D.C. -- then getting it unstuck is
the responsibility of those outside that center of power.
In celebrating Dr. King, we are also celebrating that very American urge to take
matters into our own hands, to get things done and meet the unmet needs. The Big Wheel of Leadership has spun 'round and 'round
- and now the arrow is pointing directly at us.
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