Monday, January 19, 2009

Honoring Martin Luther King, Honoring The Dream....We are the Ones We have been Waiting for...


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"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."
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I thought about MLK alot yesterday watching the Tribute at the Lincoln Memorial....that he was smiling down from above...watching all those people..swaying to the music, united in what brought them to this place in time...This Fierce Urgency of Now and a New President.... That Change was Gonna Come.....That we would and could come Together...As One People.
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"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."
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SPEECHES...
1.Click the Title to see the Entire 17 Minute Video...."I Have a Dream"
2.Also his Speeches against War and Vietnam are amazing and on Youtube, this the shorter 2.30 minute one.)))
2. The Grammy Winning 22 Minute Full 1967 Speech is here and really is a Must Hear.
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"We are the Ones We have been waiting for "...Prayer by Hopi Elders....
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Obama understood about Honoring the Fierce Urgency of Now, and Our History, and Our Heroes....It is what makes him a Great Leader....Our President.....
( this is how Our New President Elect spent MLK day....
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Scroll down plenty from the weekend at the Lincoln Memorial and the "O" Train....

7 comments:

NEWSGUY said...

I remember very well the I Have a Dream speech, watching it on a small screen black and white monitor in the lobby of the first TV station I worked for, in Lafayette, Indiana. And now, as a teacher, I run into books and references to MLK all the time in the classrooms.

But the references are all about the civil rights struggle, and they all carefully avoid Dr. King's powerful speeches against the Vietnam war -- speeches as relevant today as they ever were. To read his April 4, 1967 speech, go to < http://www.alternet.org/story/120762/mlk%3A_why_i_cannot_be_silent/ >

NEWSGUY said...

Oops, that entire URL on Dr. King's speech didn't get posted. Try < http://www.alternet.org/ >We have got to put pressure on Obama to get our troops the hell out of Afghanistan.

Fran said...

I agree with the previous post. I posted MLK's Nobel Peace Prize speech & his emphasis on non violence. Obama needs to take this wisdom from MLK & run with it. Wars are not solutions. I would gladly pay for peacekeepers and people to provide social uplift, break the cycle of poverty and help with social needs & programs. We've already been there & done that for 6 years in Afghanistan. A surge in troops will just mean a surge in death & suffering.
We don;t need more wars in this world.

Obama would be honoring King more- not just by placing a wreath on his grave, but by living Dr. Kings teachings. Learn from history. The (then) Soviet Union spent 10 years in Afghanistan before they finally withdrew.

This is a huge issue that Obama seems to not understand. We are not installing democracy at gunpoint, we are helping with insurgent recruiting.

Enough! MLK got it right- and the best way to honor him is follow his path, live the dream.

NEWSGUY said...

One final note on that: The Afghans have kicked the British and the Russians out. What makes anyone think the U.S. can prevail in Afghanistan?

If Obama persists in this madness, it will destroy all the hopes and dreams so many of us have for his presidency.

enigma4ever said...

Newsguy::
I will post the Vietnam Speech ( I have it somewhere on Youtube- and will post it with this post...it is an amazing speech...) Yeah, the history books see it differently...they focus alot on the Civil Rights and the Marches- it was more than that...

Another time I will post about Afganistan and how complicated it is ...etc...Not today...that is another whole post that deserves a discussion....a long discussion....sadly....

and since I work the rest of the day...this is my only chance to honor MLK...I was glad that we had a Prez that wants to honor MLK...FINALLY....but I could not do the Day of Service- I wanted to...but I have to work...so that is the way of it...( I am going to go shovel an elderly neighbor's path...and that will be the extent of my service today...LOL)...

enigma4ever said...

Fran:::
good to see you .....I will be over...I am sure you have a wonderful MLK post up...I too want peace and end of war mongers and strife...conflict..how we get there is another story...a mess- thank you george...anyways as I said to Newsguy...I think after inauguration we should have a discussion about Afganistan....

enigma4ever said...

Newsguy..
have to go to work..BUT the MLK vietnam Speechs are ALL posted above...

;-)