On MLK day, a query: How many know what Rev. King actually did? (NO Wiki peeking!)

[HamdenRice]

And I mean other than what the media tells us, which is making speeches and "marching" (whatever that's supposed to mean).

Anyone want to take a shot at short descriptions of what, in your understanding, Martin Luther King actually did from the 1950s until his murder in 1968 that made him such a notable leader of the civil rights struggle?

On edit: I added no peeking at Wiki. I want to know what people in general know about his strategy and tactics.

[cynatnite]

1. When I was growing up all I knew was that he and I shared the same bday...

Growing up he wasn't someone my family would discuss and very little was said in school. I had to find out on my own why he was so important.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

2. 67 years old and I was with him on that mountain top.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

3. REMEMBER THE DREAM ! LIVE THE DREAM !

[Fireweed247]

4. He was an American Prophet who worked for Justice for all

I don't like when people discuss him as involved in the 'civil rights' struggle only because that is the only thing they want us to remember. He was warned, he was afraid for his life but he still spoke out about the Vietnam war and it's effects on our nation's soul. He understood that war affects the poor disproportionately. He started talking about all of God's children being just as important as Americans. He was killed exactly one year after giving this speech
From Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4857614
and it is obvious to me this is why he was killed, as well as JFK and RFK.

Martin Luther King Jr is still my preacher. He was an amazing spiritual leader. They killed our Jesus.

[Avalux]

5. He was the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

He was a man of peace; did not promote violence and was anti-war. Believed in the equality of ALL people and attaining that goal through civil disobedience; organized people and taught them effective, peaceful means of protest. He spoke on a broader level than just equality for blacks; truly a leader on the scale of Gandhi.

[HamdenRice]

8. Yes, but what did he do, 9 to 5 so to speak, to win the Nobel? nt

[Avalux]

13. He was a scholar - lectured, wrote essays. Learned pacifism as a student at Crozer seminary -

his life mission took form while he was there; went on to receive his PhD from Boston U. Lived a life promoting peace knowing he risked great violence to himself.

Not sure what else you're looking for.

[HamdenRice]

15. He was not primarily a scholar

and at any rate, he did not win the Nobel for his scholarship.

What I'm looking for is: I'm trying to understand what the average progressive knows about what MLK actually did.

What was his "job" so to speak that enabled him to have such an impact on civil rights.

So far, it seems very few people seem to know. I think it's because the media would prefer that we think of him as a guy who gave a speech.

[Avalux]

19. Good heavens. Not primarily, but he was.

I guess you want the obvious, that he was a preacher and a community organizer; that's why today is a national day of service. If there's anything else I'm missing, please enlighten me.

[HamdenRice]

23. I really don't want to say this, so maybe you can pm me for details, but ...

MLK was not considered to have been a stellar scholar. Obviously he learned a lot in grad school, but his own work had serious problems.

"Community organizer" is the closest to what he actually was, but it's kind of shocking that off the top of our heads, the average DUer cannot describe what MLK's accomplishments were.

I think that's because the media and elite in embracing his image and his holiday have basically erased what he actually did and how he did it.

That's what I'm getting at, and I think this thread proves it.

[Avalux]

32. I don't need to PM you.

"organized people and taught them effective, peaceful means of protest" (from my first reply). I am fully aware of his work as a community organizer.

I know he wasn't considered a stellar scholar; however his time spent in nondenomination, liberal academic settings allowed him to study Ghandi and decide upon HOW he would effect peace and equality. It's an important part of who he was.

Most people who don't know much about King assume he was a baptist preacher who gave sermons and wanted blacks to have equal rights. My father was surprised when I told him King was well-educated and his work was about race equality AND class equality. So yes, I can agree the media hasn't done it's job, but isn't that usually the way of historic figures?

I'm not sure this thread has proven anything other than some of our answers haven't been to your liking. None of my responses have been wrong.

[Hanse]

6. He was a community organizer.

He was also an essayist, which is a sort of primitive blogging.

[Bluzmann57]

7. He was a pastor at a church

in Atlanta, he emulated the two greatest non violent "rebels" in history, Jesus Christ and Ghandi, was instrumental in getting the Civil Rights act of 1964 passed, and in the end, took a bullet for the civil rights cause.

[HamdenRice]

9. But the work he won the Nobel for was not related to his home church pastoral service

What did he actually do?

[Bluzmann57]

30. I believe he won the Nobel Peace Prize

for his work against the Viet Nam war.

[HamdenRice]

31. I hope you forgot your sarcasm smilie ?!?!

He did not come out against the war until several years after he won the prize. He won the prize for civil rights work, not anti-war work.

[Z_I_Peevey]

10. Union activist.

Organized labor champion.

[HamdenRice]

12. He was not a union activist, although his last campaign supported Memphis Sanitation workers nt

[Z_I_Peevey]

20. Perhaps we quibble over the language, but I am

the daughter of a union organizer and believe me, MLK was a huge supporter of organized labor. I was there, I remember.

[ogneopasno]

11. He was a union supporter, organizer and activist, for which I love him.

[HamdenRice]

14. He was not a union organizer, although he supported the Memphis sanitation strike nt

[ogneopasno]

16. I was inaccurate in my carried-away support for him, indeed.

I do know he was not a paid union organizer. I should know better than to use that phrase to describe him.

[bobbolink]

17. Who needs Wiki---here's some excellent info right here on DU!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4855586&mesg_id=4855586

Towards the end of his life, Martin Luther King said that poverty would be harder to solve than racism.

Please help us take on this huge issue of his by commenting and rec'ing this thread!

Thanks!

[TahitiNut]

18. His adoption of Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence and advocacy for the poor and disenfranchised ..

... is what made him stand out for me. There were other advocates and activists for civil rights. There were other advocates for the poor. There were other labor advocates. Dr. King led (and trained) people in the techniques of non-violence ... and that required more courage. Non-violent activists are even more likely to be in "harm's way" ... and that requires courage. Even Gandhi said he'd prefer violence to cowardice, noting that non-violence requires MORE courage. Dr. King embodied that in America ... and earned respect.

As I've noted several times on DU, it seems we've forgotten the lessons of Gandhi and King. We The People seem to have adopted the philosophy of lip service and cowardice. We adopt "opinions" that are akin to "Get Out Of Jail Free" cards ... claiming some kind of exemption from taking RESPONSIBILITY for the path our nation has taken. We're "too good" to serve in the military ... and we spout our "opinions" to prove it. Yeah. Right. We're "too good" to leave our blood in the streets ... and our "opinion" regarding the potential for change of such an act prove it. When it comes to assigning BLAME, we're experts: it's not us, of course. No, of course not.

:eyes:

[HamdenRice]

25. "Dr. King led (and trained) people in the techniques of non-violence"

Again, much more accurate than "marched" and "gave speeches." It's somewhat sad that we've forgotten what those techniques and tactics actually are.

I get depressed every time I see progressives create a "march" or "demonstration" on tv, because we seem to have lost the knowledge of everything that goes before it and more importantly, everything that comes after it.

King was a master of "what comes after" the use of those techniques, but I doubt one in a hundred progressive people know what he did.

[Heathen57]

21. More than anything, he was an organizer.

Along with the other members of SLIC (I think that's the right acronym) he organized the marches, the lunch counter sit-ins and other acts of non-violence. He also was the front man for the movement, giving the speeches, calling for peaceful acts, and letting himself take most of the heat. He was the inspiration of the whole civil rights movement, and without him leading the way, I'm not sure it would have made it so far.

Yes he marched, his picture was the one everyone seen at the front of the line. He was arrested along with the rest of the protesters. IMO he had a brilliant mind for what was needed and how to do it to get the best result.

I don't know if that is what you are looking for, but it is what I remember most. But hey, I was just a young sprout then.

[HamdenRice]

24. That's the closest to the truth -- organizer of SCLC

but even the term, "organizer" doesn't quite capture exactly what he did during each "campaign."

My main point is that the historical, actual, Martin King has been erased from memory and replaced with an image of a guy who gave a speech and "marched."

It was so much more complicated than that.

[Greyhound]

22. Stood against poverty and recognized it as a primary cause of the problems

we still face.

Moved to Chicago (a suburb IIRC) and said the racism he saw and experienced there was worse than in the south.

[bobbolink]

29. Thank you! He said that poverty would be harder to solve than racism.

Obviously, he was very correct. :cry:

[Fireweed247]

26. He dared to question America's moral high ground

"They watch as we poison their water, as we kill a million acres of their crops. They must weep as the bulldozers roar through their areas preparing to destroy the precious trees. They wander into the towns and see thousands of the children, homeless, without clothes, running in packs on the streets like animals. They see the children, degraded by our soldiers as they beg for food. They see the children selling their sisters to our soldiers, soliciting for their mothers."

[Xicano]

27. My favorite two speeches from MLK were

A Time To Brake Silence and Why I Oppose The War In Vietnam. I never hear the media referring to those speeches and the messages they contain.

[ColbertWatcher]

28. Hmm. I know he and his family fought against Condoleezza Rice and her family.

As to which was the better way to gain legal recognition of their rights.

I know King followed Gandhi's and W.E.B. Dubois' way and Rice and her family didn't.

[Winterblues]

33. He was the moral leader of America at the time

:shrug: Not sure what you want. He was a preacher, that was his vocation, but he spent the greater part of his time dealing with injustice in America.