commercialappeal.com — We are witnessing a frontal assault on the American way of life, and the prime target is the hard-working American family. In 1968, the sanitation workers of Memphis were also up against a wall. They were paid so poorly that many of them qualified for and received public assistance. This, coupled with unsafe working conditions, led to the deaths of several workers and pushed them to march in Memphis streets holding signs that said "I AM A MAN." Working people today are defending more than their rights. They are defending their human dignity.
An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.
I wrote earlier today that from his mountaintop Martin Luther King Jr. saw the "promised land" he envisioned. He saw the mountains we would have to cross together, and the mountains we would have to climb together in order to reach it. He saw a future in which all are judged by the content of their character. He saw a future in which "all labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance," and laborers are afforded their dignity. He saw a future in which "we rise above the narrow confines of our individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."
Dr. King saw that future and told us we would get there, though it would have to be without him. He believed we have it in us to get there. With 1,000 We Are One events taking place worldwide, it looks like we are beginning to believe it ourselves.
April 4 marks the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, murdered in 1968 while fighting for the rights of striking Memphis sanitation workers. This event is brilliantly chronicled in the acclaimed documentary, At the River I Stand. more »
Today, We Are One, standing in solidarity with millions of working people from every walk of life – for the right to bargain collectively for good, middle-class jobs. more »
Years ago, I visited Memphis, Tenn., to attend a conference. The conference coincided with the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, and thousands of fans were in Memphis to visit Graceland. I visited the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
The nation’s greedy corporations and insatiable wealthy are fattening themselves on workers. There’s no trickle down. It’s the opposite; the rich have been sucking the economic lifeblood from the middle class for decades. more »
Wisconsin continues to spin out of control and a constitutional crisis looms as a judge this week again ordered Walker’s administration to halt implementation of his bill stripping Wisconsin public workers of collective bargaining rights. Walker's team moved to publish the law in defiance of the court order last Friday night and began implementation of the bill on Saturday. more »
"We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God's children. And that we don't have to live like we are forced to live." —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speech in Memphis, Tenn., April 3, 1968
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