Dear Progressive Reader,
Tomorrow marks the fifty-third anniversary of the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was killed while in Memphis, Tennessee to support the striking sanitation workers of AFSCME Union Local 1733. His connection to the struggles of working people was not an aberration; it was integral to his understanding of the true nature of “civil rights.” It was King’s expansive view of human rights, civil rights, and justice that led the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover to pursue him ruthlessly, as chronicled in the recent film MLK/FBI.
In the months before his murder, King had been working to organize a national Poor Peoples’ Campaign to address inequality in the United States in holistic way. Exactly one year earlier, on April 4, 1967, King also took a stand against the U.S. war in Vietnam. Speaking at New York’s Riverside Church, he said, “Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read: Vietnam.” Many prominent people, and publications, excoriated him for his remarks. The New York Times wrote on April 7, “This is a fusing of two public problems that are distinct and separate. By drawing them together, Dr. King has done a disservice to both. . . . [T]he political strategy of uniting the peace movement and the civil rights movement could very well be disastrous for both causes.”
Time has shown that the prescient and powerful words of the Reverend King were exactly correct, and today we continue to deal daily with these issues in our country. “The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit,” he declared. “A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. . . . We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.”
That “urgency of now” has been highlighted even more strongly over the past year, as the pandemic has thrown our nation’s inequality and injustices into stark relief. Jeff Abbott reports this week on the situation of migrants leaving their homes in Central America. David Rosen looks at the possibilities for addressing inequity in Internet access. Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies explore the possibility of peace in Afghanistan, this country’s longest war. Union activist and author C.M. Lewis examines the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, making its way through Congress. And award-winning cartoonist Mark Fiore illustrates the recent voter suppression moves in Georgia and around the country.
April 9 marks the 123rd anniversary of the birth of Paul Robeson, a towering figure in U.S. history whose legacy has been obscured because he chose to speak out for civil rights, human rights, and peace. Nigerian-born writer and performer Tayo Aluko has created a new performance piece that connects Robeson’s history to the struggles of today’s racial justice movements. He wrote about some of that history on our website this week. His new production will premiere on April 9 online at TayoAlukoAndFriends.com.
Finally, this week Eleanor Bader presents an interview with Victoria Law on her new book "Prisons Make Us Safer" and 20 Other Myths About Mass Incarceration. Law will be featured next week in one of two virtual book events hosted by The Progressive and A Room of One’s Own bookstore. On April 9 we will be speaking with author Victoria Law and on April 15 with Chuck Collins, author of The Wealth Hoarders. Both will be benefits for The Progressive – please join us!
Keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.
Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher
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