I read and post about Letter From a Birmingham Jail every MLK Day. To remind everyone I know that the biggest roadblock to Racial Justice is the white moderate. That fact has not changed.
Thank you for calling attention to the importance of this day.
the podcast by Adam Tooze last friday is especially valuable, I think. #1 it covers the critical relationship between Coretta Scott King and MLK. #2 It provides some background on the inadequacy of integration as a demand in the view of many in the Black community. #3 It discusses other key Black leaders such as W.E.B. DuBoise and Paul Robinson whose carriers, were ruined by FBI and State Department attacks. #4 It has valuable material on the connection between economic and racial justice. #5 It covers a set of amazing events in Atlanta after MLK received the Nobel prize. https://foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/ones-and-tooze/the-economic-philosophy-of-martin-luther-king-jr/
Great post Jill. I have never read Rev King's famous letter from Birmingham Jail. Thanks for posting that link. Happy MLK day to you and in spirit to good people everywhere.
I recently learned about about a guy called Paul Robeson. He was an activist in the 1950s, and he should've become a Civil Rights icon.
However, he was blacklisted by the US media. This was during the height of the Cold War. The US and USSR were trying to win hearts and minds all over the world. The Americans didn't not want other countries to know just how badly they treated minorities. So they had to shut him up.
Also, Paul Robeson publicly praised Stalin and the USSR, and that was a big no-no.
One of my favorite videos is Paul Robeson singing to the workers building the Sydney Opera House. He took a message of international worker solidarity through his songs: Old Man River and Joe Hill. https://youtu.be/Eg7bPgrosAE
"When Robeson met with State Department officials and asked why he was denied a passport, he was told that 'his frequent criticism of the treatment of blacks in the United States should not be aired in foreign countries'."
I read and post about Letter From a Birmingham Jail every MLK Day. To remind everyone I know that the biggest roadblock to Racial Justice is the white moderate. That fact has not changed.
Thank you for calling attention to the importance of this day.
the podcast by Adam Tooze last friday is especially valuable, I think. #1 it covers the critical relationship between Coretta Scott King and MLK. #2 It provides some background on the inadequacy of integration as a demand in the view of many in the Black community. #3 It discusses other key Black leaders such as W.E.B. DuBoise and Paul Robinson whose carriers, were ruined by FBI and State Department attacks. #4 It has valuable material on the connection between economic and racial justice. #5 It covers a set of amazing events in Atlanta after MLK received the Nobel prize. https://foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/ones-and-tooze/the-economic-philosophy-of-martin-luther-king-jr/
Great post Jill. I have never read Rev King's famous letter from Birmingham Jail. Thanks for posting that link. Happy MLK day to you and in spirit to good people everywhere.
I recently learned about about a guy called Paul Robeson. He was an activist in the 1950s, and he should've become a Civil Rights icon.
However, he was blacklisted by the US media. This was during the height of the Cold War. The US and USSR were trying to win hearts and minds all over the world. The Americans didn't not want other countries to know just how badly they treated minorities. So they had to shut him up.
Also, Paul Robeson publicly praised Stalin and the USSR, and that was a big no-no.
One of my favorite videos is Paul Robeson singing to the workers building the Sydney Opera House. He took a message of international worker solidarity through his songs: Old Man River and Joe Hill. https://youtu.be/Eg7bPgrosAE
From Wikipedia:
"When Robeson met with State Department officials and asked why he was denied a passport, he was told that 'his frequent criticism of the treatment of blacks in the United States should not be aired in foreign countries'."