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I got off the train this morning, and for some reason i decided to stop and actually take the paper that Metro is trying to give you. On the front page, was a
a piece on Martin Luther King Jr.

Where is America 40 years after MLK?

NEW YORK. Forty years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. He had not yet turned 40. The decades that have passed since haven’t necessarily gotten America to the “promised land” he talked about in his last speech.

“He’s canonized endlessly and revered. There’s a real dichotomy between the way he was treated in life and the way he’s treated now in memory. He was much more radical in real life,” said Jacqueline Tarry, of the husband/wife visual arts duo McCallum Tarry.

The artists’ work, “Another Country,” which explores iconic images from the Civil Rights era is currently on exhibition at Kiang Gallery, in Atlanta, Georgia.

“We like to think about Martin Luther King Jr., and the topic of race in general, in terms of nobler ideas of us all holding hands together and living next to each other and being brothers,” Tarry said. “But we’ve had a history of not effectively addressing the real nitty gritty of institutionalized racism and the legacy of slavery—issues that MLK really spoke to in life.”


The largest quote highlighted in the article was "He's canonized endlessly and revered. There's a real dichotomy between the way he was treated in life and the way he's treated now in memory."

History is all about dichotomy's. We are taught to see America's revolution comprised as patriot's and loyalists, its civil war as slavery or abolition, and the civil rights movement exercised through non violent means, or "by any means necessary." BULLSHIT.

Why is it surprising that MLK Jr's legacy has been convoluted and confused to an extension where kids in schools learn nothing about the last 5 years of his life which were the most substantial and revolutionary. No one wants to remember him as a revolutionary, just as a "diplomat for peace and a colorblind society."

I was actually rather pleased for the most part with this article. It talked about MLK as a leader who was linking issues of race AND class. However i have to disagree with something Reverend Michael E. Haynes said. "His sacrificial death pushed the back of America up against the wall and made us deal with a cancer that was deadly that was going to destroy America."

But 40 years later, the majority of America cant seem to wrap their minds around the intersections of race and class (and lets not forget gender, and sexuality)... we must understand how both operate destroy this "cancer" Reverend Haynes speaks of. MLK was assassinated because he talked about race and class, and so was Malcolm X.

But we have the Ice Queen herself, Mrs. Frigidaire, also known as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton Calls for creating a cabinet position, who's sole responsibility is to end poverty.

What next?? Will McCain call to create a division of the executive branch to monitor Police Brutality on the day of Malcolm X's death.

Im effing offended. My sentiments reflect those of Jay below. This is politics, but its low for Ms. Clinton.

Even people with the accurate views of who MLK was, and what he was down for, manage to exploit the dream