{"id":12438,"date":"2018-04-17T21:44:26","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T01:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=12438"},"modified":"2019-12-23T04:57:43","modified_gmt":"2019-12-23T09:57:43","slug":"memphis-mlk50-commemoration-marks-time-for-a-political-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=12438","title":{"rendered":"Memphis’ MLK50 commemoration marks \u2018time for a political revolution\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

EDUCATION FOR PEACE . <\/p>\n

An article by Kevin McKenzie for High Ground News<\/a> (reprinted as non-commercial use)<\/p>\n

As thousands of union members and supporters prepared to march in Memphis on the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King\u2019s slaying while supporting the city\u2019s sanitation workers, the point of the outpouring became clear.<\/p>\n

Lee Saunders, president of the\u00a0American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union\u00a0still representing those workers today, tied the past to the present.<\/p>\n

\u201cFifty years ago those brave 1,300 sanitation workers, the faith-based community, our community partners, walked together hand-in-hand, singing together, praying together, walking and demanding justice and dignity for those sanitation workers,\u201d Saunders told the marchers. \u201cWe will do the same today, sisters and brothers. That same coalition, coming together, fighting the good fight. Are you ready?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nTeddy McNeal (center) raises his fist during Common\u2019s performance outside the AFSCME Hall. McNeal traveled from Kinston, NC with his Machinists union. (Andrea Morales\/MLK50)<\/center><\/p>\n

Fusing together broad coalitions and movements to harness the power of voting, nonviolent civil disobedience and union organizing were a clear message repeated during three days of conferences, speeches and workshops culminating with Wednesday\u2019s march.<\/p>\n

Martin Luther King III echoed those themes during a closing rally in a South Memphis field adjacent to Mason Temple, where King spoke the night before he was slain at the Lorraine Motel, now part of the\u00a0National Civil Rights Museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to find ways to register people like never before,\u201d King said. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve got to vote in November like never before. Black Lives Matter, Me Too movement and finally the student high school movement to address guns in this country, we should be excited about that,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n

Before the march started from AFSCME Local 1733 headquarters, Vermont Sen.\u00a0Bernie Sanders\u00a0said called King a nonviolent revolutionary. Honoring his legacy means following his footsteps and transforming the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. King was many, many things,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cWhat he was mostly about was understanding that we are all of a common humanity \u2014 black and white and Latino and Asian American and Native American. We have common dreams and today we tell the president of the United States and anyone else, you are not going to divide us up.\u201d\u2028<\/p>\n

AFSCME and the Memphis-based Church of God In Christ, headquartered at Mason Temple, partnered to support an I Am 2018 conference and the march.<\/p>\n

(article continued in right column)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nQuestion related to this article:<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
\n 
\nWhat’s the message to us today from Martin Luther King, Jr.?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(article continued from left column)<\/p>\n

Rev. William Barber, co-founder of the\u00a0Poor People\u2019s Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival, which rekindles King\u2019s Poor People\u2019s Campaign by harnessing civil disobedience to target government policies, shuttled between appearances, including the rally, to urge fusion and action.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou dishonor the movement and dishonor the prophet if you just remember the prophet without having a revival of the movement the prophet stood for,\u201d Barber told the marchers. \u201cI\u2019ve come today to tell you this is not time for a party, it is time for a political revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

AFSCME and other public-sector unions also are preparing for what they fear may be a damaging U.S. Supreme Court case to be decided in coming months,\u00a0Janus vs. AFSCME, that could cripple their ability to collect fees in some states.<\/p>\n

The unions, as well as Democratic candidates they tend to support, would suffer the blow.<\/p>\n

Entertainers including\u00a0Common\u00a0and Sheila E, who also delivered a speech at the closing rally, performed for the marchers.<\/p>\n

CNN cable news political commentator Van Jones introduced speakers at the closing rally. Jones said his father was born in Memphis, went to Melrose High School, and was in Memphis the day King was slain.\u2028
\n\u201cMy father said that was the worst day of his life and the worst day in the life of Memphis. I wish he were here today to see the beauty, to see the strength to see the resilience, to see the power,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Another CNN political commentator,\u00a0Angela Rye, also spoke, continuing a war of words with Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell him that my facts are straight and here are the facts, Mayor Strickland, because I asked you if this was a Memphis that you are proud of, if you and the way that you are dealing with your workers in 2018, which is far too similar to the way that Mayor Loeb dealt with workers in 1968,\u201d Rye said.<\/p>\n

The city paid Rye to be keynote speaker Feb. 24 at an MLK50 event. Rye, who had\u00a0met with Memphis activists\u00a0beforehand,\u00a0spoke critically\u00a0of issues ranging from progress to policing in Memphis with Strickland sitting nearby.<\/p>\n

The mayor told The Commercial Appeal that he didn\u2019t know who Rye was, that she was wrong and out of touch at times, but that it was good to be challenged. He later followed up with a\u00a0more detailed rebuttal.<\/p>\n

Rev. Al Sharpton was among speakers who pointed to the continuing issue of police shootings of unarmed black men, as well as poverty and income inequality.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re shot too much, incarcerated too long, that\u2019s why we march,\u201d Sharpton said.<\/p>\n

Tilman Hardy, 41, is with\u00a0Step Up Louisiana, which pushed for a statewide economic platform that was shot down by a House committee in the state legislature on party lines, with nine white Republicans voting no and three black Democrats voting yes, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat still shows that our nation is divided and all of these years later it seems like we still haven\u2019t moved the needle as much as we could have. So days like today mean a great deal to America and New Orleans,\u201d said Hardy, helping to hold a banner as he marched.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDUCATION FOR PEACE . An article by Kevin McKenzie for High Ground News (reprinted as non-commercial use) As thousands of union members and supporters prepared to march in Memphis on the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King\u2019s slaying while supporting the city\u2019s sanitation workers, the point of the outpouring became clear. Lee Saunders, president … Continue reading Memphis’ MLK50 commemoration marks \u2018time for a political revolution\u2019<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,91],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-12438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education-for-peace","category-north-america","tag-north-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}