Bamba,
I did enjoy this piece,thanks for forwarding it.
For Freedom
Saiks
----- Original Message -----
From: Bamba Laye Jallow <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2001 9:57 PM
Subject: FW:ST. MARTIN, THE MILITANT
> ======================================================================
> ST. MARTIN, THE MILITANT
> ____________________________________________________________________
>
> By Mumia Abu-Jamal
> #489 Column 1/10/2001
> Source: Joe Hine, [log in to unmask]; http://www.MumiaBook.com
> - Friday, 19 January 2001 -
>
> One night toward the end of January I settled into bed late, after a
> strenuous day. Coretta had already fallen asleep and just as I was about
to
> doze off the telephone rang. An angry voice said, "Listen, nigger, we've
> taken all we want from you; before next week you'll be sorry you ever came
> to Montgomery." I hung up, but I couldn't sleep. -- Rev. Martin L. King,
> Jr., Stride Toward Freedom (1958)
>
> Three nights after this phone call, King's house was bombed. It is
> possible, in this age of consumer- driven commodification, for millions to
> know a name, to recognize an image, and still to know next to nothing
about
> the recognized figure. It has been over 30 years since the assassination
of
> Dr. King, and in the 3 decades thereafter, few Americans, black or white,
> have been so honored, so lionized, or so deeply projected into public
> consciousness, as a figure of peace. This would not be so objectionable
were
> it not for the purposes of that projection.
>
> Much of the projection seems purely commercial, a secular day-off for
> millions of workers, to allow them to stimulate the economy by buying
stuff
> in the King Day Sale. Much of it also seems political, as Rev. King is
> raised as a kind of talisman, a symbol of peace meant to keep the natives
> calm in times of discontent.
>
> But symbols are funny things. They are sometimes overrun by the rampaging
> complexities of reality. Living beings change, develop and grow. And Dr.
> King, in his later years (and under pressure from black radicals and
> militants on his left) became increasingly disenchanted with society, and
of
> course, those who ruled the social order.
>
> Black Christian theologian, Dr. James H. Cone, in his excellent Martin &
> Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare (Orbis, 1991), draws a
compelling
> portrait of King's private and public selves, and his growing openness to
> radical ideas. Cone writes that Martin's wife, Coretta, who knew him best,
> saw him inching closer and closer to the views of Malcolm X. Indeed,
Coretta
> S. King said as much, in her My Life with Martin Luther King, where she
saw
> "firm agreement" between the two men on "certain aspects" of Malcolm's
> program. She sensed that "at some point the two would have come closer
> together and would have been a very strong force in the total struggle for
> liberation and self-determination of black people in our society."
>
> This was not to be.
>
> Waves of rebellions in black communities in 1967 shook King, and opened
his
> eyes to what he called "a system of internal colonialism." In words that
> would seem to presage the fiery words of Dr. Huey P. Newton and the Black
> Panthers a season later, King observed: "The slum is little more than a
> domestic colony which leaves its inhabitants dominated politically,
> exploited economically, segregated and humiliated at every turn" (Cone,
> p.223).
>
> With these attacks on the economic injustices in America came criticism of
> King by the media and their moneyed masters. To his eternal credit, King
did
> not turn from his vision, and instead heightened his economic critique,
> saying, at the SCLC Convention of Aug. 1967:
>
> We've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called
> upon to help the discouraged beggars in life's market place. But one day
we
> must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs
restructuring.
> It means that questions must be raised. "Who owns this oil?"... "Who owns
> the iron ore?"... "Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a
world
> that is two-thirds water?" (Cone, 224).
>
> This is the voice of a man who was being radicalized. Nor were his
previous
> feelings of confidence and faith in white Americans unchanged. King called
> America a "confused," "sick," and "neurotic" nation, telling a group of
> blacks in Louisville that "the vast majority of white Americans are
racist,"
> whether consciously or unconsciously (Cone, p. 233).
>
> In months thereafter, he would severely criticize the Vietnam War, and
call
> the U.S. the "greatest purveyor of violence in the world today" (Cone,
> p.237) at his "Beyond Vietnam" speech at Riverside Church in New York
City.
> Relatively shortly thereafter, Dr. King was sent to his fathers and from
> this world.
>
> As King Day once again passes, let us all remember that a man is more than
a
> symbol. Let us remember his growing radicalization, for if we have an idea
> where he was going, we begin to see why the powers that be, (the rulers,
the
> FBI, the police, etc.) didn't want him to arrive.
>
> This column may be reprinted and/or distributed by electronic means, but
> only for non-commercial use, and only with the inclusion of the following
> copyright information:
>
> Text (c) copyright 2001 by Mumia Abu-Jamal. All rights reserved. Reprinted
> by permission of the author.
>
> ** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, material
> appearing in Antifa Info-Bulletin is distributed without charge or profit
to
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for
> research and educational purposes. For more info see:
> http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Submissions are welcome. **
> ======================================================================
> Abdoulie A. Jallow
> Toll-free number: 1-888-392-4832(Excite2)
> Personal extension for v/mail/fax: 291-368-1519
>
>
>
>
>
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