Vacancy

Martin Luther King’s room at the Lorraine Hotel hours after he was shot,
Memphis, Tennessee (April 4, 1968). Photograph © Steve Schapiro.

At the risk of belaboring a point I have been making here for what now has turned into years, Martin Luther King, Jr. who was assassinated on this day in 1968, was in Memphis in solidarity with sanitation workers, who were striking the city not just for decent pay and working conditions but for recognition of their right to form a union. In light of the concerted, ongoing campaign by Republicans to subvert unions, it surely is plausible to wonder how far we remain from the promised land of which King spoke the night before he was shot. King did not "lead" the Memphis strike; indeed, he struggled to keep pace with the radicalism and resolve of the strikers. Who might now aspire to that role?

Beck's Campaign Against Francis Fox Piven (3)

"I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective — the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income." - Martin Luther King, Jr. Where Do We Go From Here? (1967).

"It is our purpose to advance a strategy which affords the basis for a convergence of civil rights organizations, militant anti-poverty groups and the poor. If this strategy were implemented, a political crisis would result that could lead to legislation for a guaranteed annual income and thus an end to poverty." - Francis Fox Piven and Richard Cloward The Nation (1966).

In The Guardian today there is yet another story on Glenn Beck's ongoing campaign against Francis Fox Piven. I found it funny that Piven arranged to meet the correspondent from the paper at a NYC restaurant called "Havana Central."

One thing that strikes me about Beck is his ignorance about history. You can find a link to the 1966 essay by Piven (and her husband, the late Richard Cloward) that so exercises Beck here at The Nation. That is where I lifted the statement above - from the first paragraph of the essay. My point today is just to say that Piven and Cloward were advocating a strategy to implement a policy that, as I noted here a year ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. also endorsed. And since Beck has announced his aim to reinvigorate Dr. King's message, how is it that he objects to Piven and Cloward? What better way to end poverty does Beck envision than the one King came to embrace? Beck instead ought to be embracing Piven as an ally in that cause. Maybe that is why he has afforded her all the publicity that trails in the wake of his diatribes.
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P.S.: You might find this portrait of Piven and this more recent Op-Ed from The Los Angeles Times - both by Barabara Ehrenreich - interesting.

Governor Cumo, MLK Jr,. & the Unions

More than 5,000 men lined up prior to the March 28, 1968 march
led by Martin Luther King during the sanitation workers' strike.
(Copyright Ernest C. Withers Trust.)

Every year on this day (and on some other days as well) I try to post something that might counteract the sanitized remembrances of Martin Luther King, Jr. we find in the mainstream press. At a time when our own "liberal" governor here in New York has drawn a gun-sight (Sarah-style) on the backs of public sector union members, it is important to recall that King died in Memphis supporting the rights of Sanitation Workers (yes public employees) to unionize. On the off chance that Mr. Cuomo would like to brush up on his history, he might start here.

And While we are Talking About King ...

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous
than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr., 1963

King may have overstated the case a bit - after all, in the category of dangerous characteristics, it is hard to beat either true, shameless venality or sadistic delight in the pain of others. The latter just happen, in my view, to be less widely distributed than the qualities King identifies.

Why Glenn Beck is Right (Meaning Correct, Not Just Reactionary)

Glenn Beck speaks at his 'Restoring Honor' rally in front of
the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 28, 2010
(Image © AP Photo/Alex Brandon).

I never thought I'd say it, but here goes. Glenn Beck is right! Reviving the message of Martin Luther King , Jr. would indeed go considerable distance toward restoring honor to America.

Unfortunately, Beck fails to grasp the implications of his call; MLK Jr.'s message entails radical politics of just the sort that he and his reactionary followers would find appalling. After all, King preached a message of progressive political-economic reform. For instance, he demanded a universal guaranteed income to directly address the widespread poverty that plagued the U.S. in the 1960s and continues to do so today. He also spoke and acted in solidarity with striking workers - indeed, he was shot in Memphis where he had traveled to support the demands of sanitation workers seeking to exercise their right to form a union. King also spoke eloquently against American military aggression in Viet Nam; his message on that score translates more or less seamlessly to our current disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, let the Merry Becksters re-orient their politics to accommodate King's message. We'd all be much better off.

The fact that those on the left are so pre-occupied with the resonance of King's "I Have a Dream" speech, suggests that they too ought to look more closely at Dr. King's message. He did not stand for freedom and civil rights in the abstract, but for freedom deeply embedded in circumstances of solidarity and justice and peace and equality.

May Day 2010

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
Photograph © AP/Frank Franklin II.

And while we are on the topic of May Day ... There are a couple of reasons to call attention to Rich Trumka. He is now President of the AFL-CIO, but before that he was leader of the United Mine Workers. It has been a bad year for miners. And it is only May.

Beyond that, I think Trumka is an extremely admirable man. A couple of years back, he gave what may well be the most remarkable speech on race in American politics since Martin Luther King, Jr.; like King, Trumka links the defense of minority rights to the struggle of labor in America. And he speaks frankly. This picture of Trumka is from a union sponsored rally this past week on Wall Street.