Protecting
It,y f·
As the birthday 0 Martin
Luther King approaches and
the nation prepares to celebrate
the National Holiday in his
hoD once again the debate
about ho zo appropriately
remember KiDg. heating up.
From my vantage point the
celebration has become en­
veloped in so much ritual and
pomp and circumstance that
there i almost the illusion that
the need for civil righ agitation
and human rights struggles is
�� rhetorial ring of ·1 Have
A Dream" reverberates mon­
tonously throughout the nation
if to consci sly mask the
nightmare that exists for mil­
lions of African Americans and
poor people in t� co�try.
ItisasiftheKingHo dayhas
become an anual occasion to
coopt the real meaning of the
life and legacy of Martin Luther
King It has almost become a
har�less affirmation of the vir
tues of the American dream and
the American system.
The Ameri n system may
indeed have its virtues, but Mar­
tin Luther King used the
freedom of peech, the right to
peaceful assembly, the right to
vote and the right to petition .the
government to confront unjust
Ia and a hypocritical system
hich provided sa�ction for
racism, segregation, d_,s­
crimination, r cia I oppression
nd violence.
In the spirit of n rural rights
and the Declaration of In-
the
dependence, Martin Luther
Kina used non-vioIeDt direct ac­
tion to .revo against and call
into question an unjust govern­
ment.
Civil disobedience was used
a weapon to traDsform fa­
tally flawed system, so that the
idea of an American dream
might have some prospect of
being realized.
As he neared the end of his
life King still had his dream, our
dream, but he well aware
tbat the dream was far from
beingfulfiUed. When Kingjour­
neyed to Memphis an� �
aides in the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference w�re
planning the most massive
direct ction mobilization ever,
the Poor People's Campaign.
I 1963 King delivered his
renowned ·1 Have A Dream­
speech. By 1968 the "promisory
. note" which King talked about
in that same speech was still
being returaed marked insuffi­
cient funds.
Thus King determined to
aim a telling blow t the very
heart of the America's system of
oppression; a value system
which propogated greed, profit
and property over people and
spawned vast extre es of
. MtCHlGAN
legacy· 'ot Or. King
and used an instrument of
cooptation and pacijication. It
is our sacred duty to protect and
live out the real legacy of Mar­
tin Luther King.
Wee • 1b Revi I of
Civil DlsOlbeGlIeIl�ce
wealth.and poverty. King as
gunned down before he could
launch this radical campaign.
But the very idea of the Poor
People's Campaign set a direc­
tion which Kina obviously felt
essential if Black people
and poor people were to
remake America into the
promised land.
If one moves beyond the
mesmerizing repetition of "I
Have A Dream" to King's later
speeches and writings we dis­
cover a Martin who called the
very ethic of the capitalist politi­
cal economy into question.
His was an urgent appeal to
cherish people over profit and
buman and spiritual values over
property rights and
materialism.
Since Martin Luther King
was assassinated it seems that
everything has changed, yet in
reality nothing has changed.
As we enter the decade of
the 90s the rich in America are
getting richer while the poor are
getting poorer.
In America the capital of
capitalism, the homeless and
hungry r m the streets, our
inner cities are in decay and
drugs are overwhelming entire
neighborhoods.
Despite the apparent
progress of. a fe� African
American nuserv still abounds
among the masses. African
Americans and people of good
will still need to use what Mar­
tin call moral force to challenge
this nation to change.
Beyond the King Holiday
and beyond the dre� we need
a living acting Martm Luther
King mounting a renewed as­
sault on racism, racial violence,
militarism and poverty. The
King Holiday must inspire: us to
act, to finish the unfinished
business. It must not lull us to
sleep or have us celebrate into
complacency.
There is always the danger
that the real legacy of King's life
will be lost and that his image
and symbol will be manipulated
Ron Daniels serves as Presi­
dent of the Institute for Com­
munity Organization and
Development in Youngstown,
Ohio. He may be contacted at
(216) 746-5747.
Problem
Solving
Lenora
Fulanl
When a social system is no
lODge capable of solving basic
social problems, the people who
live under that system want to
know the reason why. They As 10 as they are Republicans
come out into the streets, they I and Democrats, they have no
rise up, they speak out; they step answers for the broad masses of
forward, they make demands. the American people who must
This is true from Bucharest to confront those problems in
the South Bronx, Sofia to their everyday lives.
Soweto. In New York City some folks
Over the last few months the have been telling me that I
people ofEastem Europe �ve should stop "doggin" David
- made it clear that the ruling Dinkins, the new mayor.
elites of the various communists "Dr, Fulani," they c y, you
parties had no solutio to t!te need to give Dinkins a chance.
chronic problems of matenal "Of course rm going to give him
scarcity and the lac of a chance! He's the mayor of
democracy. So they came out New York ... the Black and Puer-
into the streets to demand l1�W to Rican working ela com-
leadership, which hopefully will munities put him in a place
be able to provide such solu- where he can. addre s the
tions. problems that confront the
Like our brothers and sisters people of the city. '
in Europe, the American. But we can't afford to rely on
people are becoming increas- this mayor any more 'than we
ingly aware that the perm�ent- could rely on the legion of
Iy incumbent pro�esslo�al Democrats who preceded him
politicians on the major parties in office.
who run this country of behalf We have seen reformers and
of white corporate Ame�ica reform movements come and
have no solutions to the senous go: they failed miserably, be-
problems that beset our cause when push cameroshove,
country: poverty, bomel�ess, when throw down time came
rampant police brutal.lty, around, they were too beholden
domestic violence against to the banking and real estate
women and children, the interests which control New
epidemics of drug addiction York to front for the people
and AIDS, official co ption, a who elected them: the 0 es who
ravaged environment and a pay rent and ride the subwa�
blatantly undemocratic elec- and buses and send their
toral system in which more than children to the public schoo
half of us do not choo to par- and take their elderly parents to
ticipate. the public hospitals.
It is obviou that the As the chairper on of the
Republican Party and. t�e New Alliance Party I am wor _
Democratic Party, both whi�h iog day and night to build an in-
have billions of dollars at their .dependent alternative to the
disposal, have no solutions; if major parties, Black-led,
they did, these proble wo.uld multi-racial party that tands
be in the proces of being for people inste d of profits.
solved. When our people come out
But in fact the problems are into the streets to demand solu-
only getting worse, t�ey have tion to the chronic problems of
reached crisis proporti . And material scarcity and lack of
this is true no matter whoholds democracy that the corrupt
office, "libe als" or "COl ns�rva- leadership of the major parties
tives" "machine regu ars or cannot and will not solve.
"reformers", NAP _ will be there with the in-
It is true whether they are dependent option. Then we will
men or women, Black or white. chancel
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