Main Article:
https://boingboing.net/2016/01/18/martin-luther-king-socialist.html
I recognize that I'm a day late on this, but in tribute to MLK day, I thought I would pay a tribute to the actual Martin Luther King, Jr, the socialist, the contrarian, and the activist. This article highlights a specific quote by Martin Luther King Jr:
"I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic. And yet I am not so opposed to capitalism that I have failed to see its relative merits. It started out with a noble and high motive, viz, to block the trade monopolies of nobles, but like most human system it fail victim to the very thing it was revolting against. So today capitalism has outlived its usefulness. It has brought about a system that takes necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes."
This sentiment is part of what drove Martin Luther King Jr's crusade for Civil Rights. Nowadays, you would think that it was because MLK was a giant Bible-thumping Christian, and that was the sole cause of his movement towards the Civil Rights for blacks and trying to make sure that the generations that came after him would have access to their civil liberties --and definitely not something like a true, pure unfettered belief in equality (income, racial, gender, and social equality). To take another quote from Martin Luther King, Jr, which is well worth hearing:
"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
(Taken from this
web article), and also,
"True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."
So near this particular Federal holiday, I would request that people remember and honor the real Martin Luther King Jr, not the sanitized, faux folk hero that people (like certain despicable Fox News hosts) pretend he was. This was a man who was wiretapped by the FBI under Hoover and an order given by JFK, this was a man who was assassinated for having the audacity.
This is a man who during
COINTELPRO, was declared to be:
"In the light of King's powerful demagogic speech[, we] must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro, and national security."
by one of J. Edgar Hoover's (the fascist head of the FBI) top men. During the counter-Leftist movement of COINTELPRO, which targeted socialists, communists, feminists, black rights supporters, and gays, the COINTELPRO program did the following:
"[On November 21, 1964 a] 'suicide package' [was] sent by the FBI that contained audio recordings of King's sexual indiscretions combined with a letter telling him 'There is only one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy, abnormal, fraudulent self is bared to the nation.' "
So on MLK day, that's the man I try to remember. A real hero, who fought for what he believed was necessary. This is man who the Establishment fought
bitterly against at every turn, including the absolutely morally disgusting tactics above to try to get him to commit suicide, with evidence from collecting illegal wiretaps against him and his supporters. This is a man who understand the real price of capitalism and income inequality. But most importantly, this was a man who was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in, even if it meant (and it ultimately did) that he could be harmed in the process.
