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Remembering the actual impact of a person like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is not so easy as it may appear.
An entire generation has been born since his tragic death in 1968. The impressions these younger men and women have of the man and his significance had to be formed by sources other than personal experience or witness.
At the same time, those who remember the work and life of Dr. King may have the tendency to "sanitize" or "domesticate" his words and his work to make both more palatable to a general audience -- something about being a national historic figure with a national holiday and all.
But, I must say, Dr. King wasn't playing around!
I'm proud that we have posted on the splash page of our website the last speech he delivered before being assassinated the following afternoon in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had come to help City of Memphis sanitation workers who were on strike for better wages and working conditions. To see how far we've moved away from Dr. King's values and vision just consider the general attitude in the United States today toward organized labor.
I hope you'll go to our site and listen to and/or read his powerful address:
What strikes you most about his last words?
Published January 29, 2008 by Larry James |
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| Tags:
Civil Rights
History
Justice
Labor
Martin Luther King
Social Justice
Tennessee
Unions
