John,
On this day in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on his hotel balcony. He had traveled to Memphis to support a Black sanitation workers' strike, who had staged a walkout a few months before to protest unequal wages and unsafe working conditions.
Whether it's today on the anniversary of his death or his birthday on January 15th, we often see video snippets, clips, and quotes from some of his most famous speeches. It just so happens that these are some of his most “agreeable” statements.
But what has happened right before our eyes is the white-washing and deradicalization of Dr. King and all he represented.
Dr. King was a revolutionary and freedom fighter. While he has been championed for his nonviolent tactics, he was an outspoken advocate for civil and equal rights and, more often than not, criticized the U.S. government for its unjust systems.
Here is a perfect example (and is something that should be applied to the current day):
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” —A Time to Break the Silence: April 4th, 1967
Dr. King wasn't just a critic of U.S. police and military spending. He often spoke out about the structural inequalities of housing and was a housing equality champion.
From 1965 to 1966, Dr. King co-led the Chicago Freedom Movement, a campaign that sought to challenge discrimination in employment, education, and housing in Chicago. During this time, Chicago was one of the most residentially segregated cities in the country, and Black people seeking homes in the area were barred from countless neighborhoods or even attempting to house hunt freely.
One week after his assassination, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was signed into law.
On the anniversary of his death, let us remember Dr. King for what he truly was: A legendary civil rights activist with radical ideas who challenged and criticized the government to see a future of true liberation and equality for Black people everywhere.
In love and solidarity,
Black Lives Matter
