DR KING ON THE BOOTSTRAP MYTH
Fifty-six years after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Nobel Peace Prize winner's softer remarks on racial equality dominate his legacy more than his anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist perspective, which revolutionaries say led to his assassination.
As King politically matured, he began speaking out on economic matters, advocating for a fairer distribution of wealth and resources. He contended poverty and unemployment weren't merely individual challenges but systemic injustices requiring systemic remedies. One of his final public appearances was alongside striking Black sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee.
In a speech given a year before his assassination at the Riverside Church in New York City, titled, 'Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,' the political philosopher and civil-rights icon denounced what he called the 'giant triplets' of US society—militarism, materialism and racism—famously emphasising the urgent need for a 'radical revolution of values,' one that would elevate people above profits.
In numerous speeches, King also debunked the bootstrap philosophy, which says anyone could succeed in the United States by working hard and 'pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.'
Since his assassination, many say the US government has co-opted King's legacy by creating a federal holiday in 1986 to commemorate his birthday. Streets renamed after King can be found in hundreds of US cities, ironically in the poorest and Blackest neighbourhoods. Meanwhile, the corporate media and US public schools only replay his 1963 'I Have a Dream' speech, which focused on racial equality.
What do you think Dr. King would say about today's state of economic relations between Western powers and African people?
-
1:46
AfricanStream
3 days agoLAWYER: SELLOUTS RUNNING SOUTH AFRICA
39 -
China Uncensored
58 minutes agoCommunism ROTTED China
-
6:58
Tactical Advisor
2 hours agoBad News For Guntubers
20317 -
5:51
Dr. Nick Zyrowski
8 days agoBerberine, Fat Loss & Your Blood Sugar | Must See!
972 -
9:31
Sideserf Cake Studio
9 hours agoI Made a Hyperrealisitic Bearded Dragon CAKE
5292 -
1:27:44
Redacted News
3 hours agoBREAKING! EMERGENCY WHITE HOUSE MEETING OVER BIDEN HEALTH, COUP UNFOLDS | Redacted w Clayton Morris
90.4K249 -
Battleground with Sean Parnell
3 hours agoAn Earth Shattering Week in American Politics w/ Bryan Dean Wright
5.22K11 -
1:58:14
Revenge of the Cis
3 hours agoEpisode 1352: Blow Away
24.4K4 -
19:42
TENET Media
2 hours agoEyewitness To Trump's Assassination UNIMPRESSED With Security | Matt Christiansen
4.81K7 -
1:04:40
In The Litter Box w/ Jewels & Catturd
19 hours agoDems Torch Democracy | In the Litter Box w/ Jewels & Catturd – Ep. 609 – 7/22/2024
57.9K33