On April 4th we remember and honor Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr., for the sacrifice he made on behalf of black people and humanity in general. Note that by reframing April 4th as King’s Sacrifice Day, we take focus away from his killer(s) and place it on the heroic and ultimate sacrifice MLK made...
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Lost in the narrative of the uprising in North Africa and the Middle East is the model and inspiration Arabs are drawing from Martin Luther King and by extension the 1960 African American freedom struggle . Depicted as a comic-book action hero, Martin Luther King trumpets justice, advocates nonviolent struggle, and “dreams of a...
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The problematic of Brown v Board of Education resulted in a disinvestment in black schools by black people. This along white working class resistance to busing and the goal of school integration has resulted in crisis in education among black youth that we see today and that is spelled out in A Call For...
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Root and Branch: Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, and the Struggle to End Segregation Author: Rawn James The Supreme Court 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education is widely considered one of the milestones of the civil rights movement. James Rawn explores the two men, Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall, and the...
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Die young, die middle age, die old, but remember that the most useful life and most abundant life is the one in which one dreams that which will never completely come true, and chooses ideals that forever beckon buy forever elude. To seek a goal that is worthy, so all-embracing, so all-consuming, and so...
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The Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education is widely considered one of the milestones of the civil rights movement. It was to be sure, a decades-long legal campaign and struggle, brilliantly and relentlessly waged by two fiercely dedicated lawyers- Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall. Yet, there would not have been...
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The King 2011 celebration will more than likely follow the template of the past, sanitizing his teaching, censoring his more radical speeches, de-contextualizing King from his works and critique of American society, and repackaging his image to make him a non controversial hero. To the contrary, Martin Luther King (MLK) was against the established...
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“To take part in the African revolution it is not enough to write a revolutionary song; you must fashion the revolution with the people. And if you fashion it with the people, the songs will come by themselves and of themselves.” Sekou Toure, President Guinea The 1960s freedom struggle was reaffirmation of Sekou Toure...
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Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were the defining figures of the 1960s black freedom struggle. These two towering leaders influence and determine the scope and tone of the civil rights struggle and black power movement. Through their philosophy and leadership, they set the moral and social agenda for much of the second half...
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While Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) is largely credited and associated with popularizing the call for Black Power, Malcolm X is truly the foundational figure for who gave voice and representation to concept and practice of Black Power. Building on the philosophy of Marcus Garvey and teaching of the Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm outlined contours of...
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