by Kathie MM & Pat Daniel
Yes! We shall overcome. Vote! And help every vote in your community count..
Tag: MLK
When will they ever learn?
by Kathie MM
I cannot even say those words (“When will they ever learn?”) without Pete Seeger’s ballad, “Where have all the flowers gone,” flooding my brain. We had such optimism in the sixties, despite the vile and catastrophic assassinations of JFK , MLK,, and RFK, such hope that people would study war no more. But the current era is more bloodthirsty and terrifying than ever as the government, the people behind the government, the arms industry, the NRA, and other war profiteers promote and benefit from deadly weapons and the sacking of lands far from our shores.
As is typical of bullies, those responsible for sending our young men and women to kill civilians (that’s who almost all the victims are) refuse to take responsibility for their devastating assaults on human beings and environments. If the power brokers learned any lessons from Vietnam, it was how better to cover up dirty deeds and blame their victims for the violence unleashed upon them.
The Sacking of Falujah: A People’s History by Ross Caputi (a frequent guest author on Engaging Peace), Richard Hil, and Donna Mulhearn takes you behind the scenes of a more recent major bloodletting by the U.S. The book is not only engrossing, but dares to speak truth to power, to describe events as experienced at Falujah not only by the three authors but by dozens of Iraqis who suffered from the second invasion of Iraq and its endlessly deadly aftermath.
Reading this book will not only provide you with hitherto unavailable information about the sacking of Falujah by the US and “Coalition Forces” but also about the events that led up to it—events that the US government is not eager to share or take responsibility for—and the role of that sacking and related events in the rise of ISIS. It will get you thinking about sociocide and urbacide, and information wars. It may also motivate you to think more about our government’s current rhetoric concerning “enemies” in other parts of the world and its threats regarding the selected enemies of today’s regime. You know who the current targets are. Can you ask your Congresspeople to resist complicity?
To view a video of my interview with Ross Caputi about The Sacking of Falujah, go to https://youtu.be/H7KatbFAI6U and send us your comments on this and all engaging peace posts.
Celebrating Reverend Martin Luther King Jr’s Legacy, Part 2
Martin Luther King Jr, at a press conference / World Telegram & Sun photo by Walter Albertin, 8 June 1964. No known copyright restrictions
By Kathie Malley-Morrison & Anthony J. Marsella
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., is gone, but his legacy of peace, justice, and nonviolence endures. Hallelujah!
Celebrating that legacy should not be consigned to one day. Let’s strive for an MLK week, an MLK year, an eternally more peaceful and just society.
In that spirit, this week we honor the memory of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. His words and actions sustain those who remain prisoners of poverty, hatred, and violence, and continue to inspire thousands of peace advocates and activists.
Out of those thousands, we are nominating 100 living peace activists for the MLK Peace & Social Justice Team. Compiling this list of advocates and activists was challenging but also inspiring, as each activist we identified added to our hope for the better world Reverend King envisioned.
The activists we are proposing for the MLK team are not angels; they are not flawless. They are human beings, with the kinds of flaws and frustrating qualities that exist in all of us to greater or lesser extents; however, in our view, they are doing more good than bad, more helping than hurting, and are striving to make the world a better place for more people.
In our next post, we will describe the qualities that are particularly characteristic of the individuals whom we are nominating as exemplars of the peace and social justice movement. Please comment on those qualities and offer your own view of what it takes to be a peace leader.In subsequent posts, we will provide the names of our 100 nominees for upholders of the MLK legacy. The list is part of an evolving effort to bring recognition and authority to those whose work for social justice, nonviolence, and peace demands attention, support, and gratitude.
You can help: please nominate yourself or others for inclusion (and include a website address or link where possible). Join us in promoting the MLK legacy as an antidote to the hatred, violence, and destruction that seem so prominent in today’s world. If we join together, we can overcome.
MLK: Occupy his vision
In our 2011 post honoring the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we documented how thoroughly he meets the criteria of moral engagement. This year, we continue to honor him for his major role in efforts to end the U.S. war in Vietnam.
This year, with the world still reverberating with the Occupy movements begun in 2011, we also honor his views on the right of all citizens to engage in non-violent protest, to resist violence, and to strive for peace.
Of protest, he said, “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” (Watch this video.)
Of war, he said, “The chain reaction of evil — wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.”
Of peace, he said, “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”
We think that if Dr. King were alive today, he would be one of the leaders of the Occupy movement in this country. We think he would be pleased to know that in California,
“Occupy Riverside activists helped an ex-Marine reoccupy the home that he and his family were evicted from as a result of foreclosure. Occupy Petaluma protesters successfully petitioned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to suspend evictions during the holidays. Occupy Redding is supporting postal workers who are protesting job cuts.”*
* Rose Aguilar, Truthout, Tuesday 27 December 2011. Small Occupy Movements Across the Country Accumulate Victories.
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology