“We must recognize that we can’t solve our problem now until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power… this means a revolution of values and other things. We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are all tied together… you can’t really get rid of one without getting rid of the others… the whole structure of American life must be changed. America is a hypocritical nation and [we] must put [our] own house in order.”
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Report to SCLC Staff, May 1967.
As we commemorate the life and struggles of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., today, we are once again called upon to recognize the difference between the “sanitized” version of Dr. King that is generally presented to us in the corporate media and the activist for peace, justice and redistribution of wealth that he was in real life. The corporate media like to focus on his faith, commitment to non-violence in the face of oppression, his “I Have a Dream” speech – and not much else. They certainly don’t want people to read or reflect upon his “Beyond Vietnam” address one year prior to his assassination or his other later works condemning militarism, war, and the societal structure that generates them.
The corporate usurpers of King’s legacy would not want people to recognize how that legacy has been co-opted and perverted by the corporate-sponsored political parties, as Glen Ford, executive editor of Black Agenda Report, explains in this incisive, no-punches-pulled essay.
As a political party dedicated to ending racism and all forms of oppression, economic exploitation, militarism and war, the Green Party provides a vehicle for carrying on Dr. King’s work on the political field, uncorrupted by corporate money and influences. We are active in the peace movement, active in the environmental movement, active in numerous causes seeking a just redistribution of wealth and an end to poverty, privation and prejudice.
But we also want to move beyond mere protest. We seek to advance these causes by campaigning for and winning government office. We want to use the power of the state to serve the public good, not the interests of a small class of profiteers whose system is causing so much death and destruction.
We have a lot to accomplish in 2020. If you have not already done so, please join our party and get involved in our efforts to accomplish these goals.