Shining a New Light

On April 4, 1968, a sniper assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The preeminent civil rights leader of his time, King had come to Memphis, Tennessee, to aid striking sanitation workers. He was only 39 years old.

Forty years have passed since that fateful day. As of this month, Dr. King has been gone from us longer than he was ever here. As we pass this milestone in history, we gather in Memphis to remind ourselves and the world that -- though a bullet killed the dreamer -- it did not kill the dream.

Dr. King had a vision of an America as good as its promise, and a world at peace with itself. That vision lives on in the hearts of hundreds of millions -- including two generations of adults and a rising generation of teen-agers, all of whom have been born since King's passing. The time has come for us to step forward. We must take full responsibility to advance the cause of justice, opportunity and peace.

It must be said that we are stepping onto history's stage at a frightening time -- at a time when "the Market" is free, and the people are not.

A time of global warming and global war. A time of mass incarceration of people, and mass extinction of species. A time of "no rules" for the rich, and "no rights" for the poor. A time when our courts seem to give nothing but evictions and convictions to those on the bottom. A time of increasing profits for the few, and decreasing options for the many.

And yet, inside the United States, the tide has begun to turn. The GOP juggernaut that carried the nation to the brink of destruction has begun to run out of gas. Ordinary Americans today are longing for a leader, not a cowboy-in-chief. Some are rethinking consumerism, seeking healthier choices for their families, worrying about oil prices and even the climate crisis. And just three years after George W. Bush's re-election, the mighty political party that Karl Rove thought would rule America for generations appears to be falling apart at the seams.

Something has shifted -- profoundly. Unfortunately, all the old political figures, outdated modes of discourse and stodgy institutions are still with us. But you can feel something exciting beginning to stir -- and break loose -- underneath.

The future is getting restless. We are on the brink of something promising and new. And for the first time in more than a generation, those of us who value living beings over dead products have a chance to offer real leadership to the country.

Our generations must embrace the example Dr. King set -- and re-imagine it, to meet new challenges.

For example: in his time, Dr. King worked for equal protection and equal opportunity. We, too, must adopt that agenda. But ours is an age of both ecological and social peril. Therefore, we must insist that vulnerable communities get equal protection from racial discrimination -- and from the floods, storms, droughts, plagues and fires that global warming is causing. (No more Katrinas!)

Ours is also an age of positive economic transformation: billions of dollars are pouring into the solar, wind, organic agriculture and other clean industries. This green economy will generate thousands of business opportunities -- and millions of new jobs. We must seek to guarantee equal opportunity in this growing "green" economy. We must insist that the coming "green wave" lifts all boats. Those low-income communities that were locked out of the pollution-based economy must be locked into the clean and green economy. Our communities and especially our children deserve "green jobs, not jails."

Dr. King -- and many others -- fought, bled and died to racially integrate a pollution-based economy. Today, America is creating a new, clean and green economy. From the start, it should be designed to have a dignified place for everyone.

Dr. King linked the solutions of civil rights, peace and economic opportunity. We must link the solutions of social justice, peace and ecological sanity. Our dream must uplift the people -- and the planet, too. This is the calling of our time.

We seek a world society wherein we use clean, alternative energy to fuel our machines ... healthy, organic and local food to fuel our bodies ... and hope, solidarity and love to fuel our movements for change. Our cause itself must become irresistibly beautiful, vital and sustainable. Success will come when our networks are practical enough to "organize" tens of thousands -- and soulful enough to "magnetize" millions.

So let us dare to imagine: a healthy, joyous, self-confident liberation movement. A movement that celebrates more than it condemns. That solution-izes more than it problem-atizes. Imagine a movement for justice -- with its arms wide open.

In these "difficult days," we have a duty to do more than curse the darkness. We must, ourselves, shine a new light. That is what Dr. King did. And forty years later, new generations have come to Memphis -- bearing lanterns of our own.

Green For All welcomes you to Memphis. Here and now, we boldly, proudly and loudly declare The Dream ... REBORN.

On April 4-6, Green For All presents "The Dream Reborn," a three-day conference in Memphis that commemorates the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and presents positive solutions for social and environmental equity from today's generation of visionary leaders. (www.dreamreborn.org)

Comments

[RoseMerry]

Right on, right on, right, RIGHT ON!

Someone has his priorites right! Mr. Jones, you have a new fan!

[PioneerKing]

Sir:

You fail to acknowledge that divisiveness is a paradigm that is financially and politically profitable. Bigotry, racism, sexism, classicism, nativism and all the other _____isms will remain apart of the American psyche as long as folks are profiting.

[nellie]

I enjoyed reading your article. It was coldly realistic and yet uplifting. Thanks.

[BrainWithHeart]

Don't listen to Nommo; your plan is smart, and I am sure the Obama people are already working on it.

Certainly Rev Wright has many great qualities to have attracted and retained such a strong congregation for so many years. The public has only seen a fraction of the man. Obama has run his entire campaign on the idea of a groundbreaking, positive and work-together type of politics (and I believe he means it). Due to the media coverage, lots of Sam's Club dems and independents are finding Obama's "mentor" to be represent quite the opposite. He's got a perception problem on his hands. The only way to turn it around is to change the perception of Wright.

[bison1]

Indeed Obama speech suggest that in t "hese 'difficult days,' we have a duty to do more than curse the darkness. We must, ourselves, shine a new light." Obama is not an "angry black man," who secretly desires to "get the white man." But there are some angry black men and white men in this country. Not voting for Obama will not make either go away; instead, they will just linger in the shadows. Obama offers open conversation, hope, and a belief in American to mitigate racial differences. He is not trying to ignore race relations. He is trying to move the nation forward on racial issues. If the excerpts from Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons are the defining reasons for not voting for Obama, than I will pray for those voters to have a better understanding of the complexity of emotions related to perceptions and misunderstandings among different races. And as a Christian, I am obliged to look a the life works of Rev. Wright who transformed the Chicago’s South Side through a self-help Christian theology.
Why is it when race becomes more important, Obama suffers? It is obvious that Obama is a black man but to the extent he” looks like ‘the black candidate,’ he has slim support outside his two bases of black voters and white hard-core liberals. However craftily Obama handles the issue, talking about race is a loser for him.” What does this say about us as a nation? Does it remind us of the insidious cancer that plagues our country? Does it confront us with the complexity of emotions related to perceptions and misunderstandings among different races which highlight the destructive impact of racism on both white and black people? Does it challenge us to change? Obama speech has open up a necessary dialogue which prompts us to see race through the lens of the other racial or cultural identity, not through our own. His speech demonstrates his ability to appeal to the best in people. It gives white and black people agency to make this nation a more perfect union. Ttp toeing around race will not get us where we need to go as a nation.

[mightbesane]

As I've followed several threads having to do with Rev. Wright, MLK, Obama, and race and gender in general, several themes become apparent.

The most depressing of those themes is that time and inclination distort memory. As inspirational as JFK was to a generation, that generation seems to have forgotten that early in his presidency, he authorized both the Bay of Pigs invasion and an expanded role for the US military in the affairs of southeast Asia. They forget that JFK didn't 'win' the televised debates, he just looked better than Nixon. (Those who heard the debates on the radio despaired of Kennedy's poor performance.)

And so it goes. Our heroes - heroes of both the Right and the Left - are elevated to the loftiest of heights, whether or not, like JFK , they were serial adulterers and their actions led to the deaths of tens of thousands or even if, like Reagan, they call catsup a vegetable, pronounce that trees cause pollution, and run from Lebanon. (Say what you will about whether or not we should have been in Lebanon in the first place, our abrupt departure was as significant as any single event leading to 9/11, even if Reagan did later prove his manliness by invading Grenada.)

Similar flaws can be found in the characters and actions of just about every hero of yesterday and today. What does join them together is that,in their most memorable speeches, that which endures about them in our minds, folks like JFK and MLK didn't dwell on what was wrong with our country, but rather reminded us of its promise. Read the "I Have A Dream" speech.

"But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred."

Was MLK a flawed human being? Yes, he was. Did he point out, in the most stark of terms, the problems that were yet to be addressed in our society. Yes, he did. But he does not damn his country. Rather, he says, "I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."

Let those who would damn this country in public heed the public utterings of men like MLK. I have traveled a bit in this world and I am here to tell you that, even today, I hold my head high and proudly proclaim that I am an American. I live in a country that taught the world about the promise of equality and that, even as we struggle to realize that promise, that struggle with our collective conscience is the most sincere in the world. I live in a country in which I have the power to change the wrongheaded government of today with a more hopeful government that looks to tomorrow.

When Obama tells me that, I'll follow. Obama came close the other day. "I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible." When he declares, in no uncertain terms, that he takes pride in that fact, I'll follow.

[Mormondude]

Value people over things? Courts handing out convictions and evictions?

Apparently you've never been a landlord. Having someone stop paying the rent can be absolutely devastating to you, financially. It's extremely difficult to evict someone. It's costly and it takes a long period of time. If someone decides to stop paying the rent and sit in your property for 6 months, what are you supposed to do about it? Declare bankruptcy yourself?

Not everyone is a slum-lord like Obama's pal Rezko. Many many landlords rent our one or two properties. It's a risky business. If you can find a good renter who takes care of the place and pays their rent on time, you can actually get a decent return on your investment. If not, it will milk you dry. So you shouldn't attack landlords who took a chance on a renter and got burned. As usual, there are two sides to this equation. Unilaterally condemning evictions ignores the fact that landlords are people too, and they are just trying to live a good life as well.

Sure, there are Rezko's out there, and people like Obama to defend them. But don't lump everyone in together with them.

[hazmaq]

The real problem with today Mr. Jones, is that it's not so much the individual citizenry stirring up racial tensions and trouble -Barack Obama's support proves that.

I hate to use a well worn cliche -but now due to the war, it absolutely is the corporate owned media's stake in war profiteering, along with Congressional support and complacency, that drives their content to ensure they get the right person in the right office.

Look at how we got into the war in the first place.

But, what I saw happening to the Democratic party over these last 6 elections they've lost, when I looked to the root causes of their failings, was that it started with a slow insertion of a new kind of hard line Democrat. And those hard liners were also pro-business.

They looked like nice Democrats at first glance -that's why they got elected. But their votes told a different story. Senator Edwards is a perfect example - this man so concerned about the working poor, in his first year in office voted for that Bankruptcy bill, and so did Hillary Clinton. It did ultimately pass regardless of what Clinton says, and with the language she and Edwards helped write.
One of it most horrible new provisions, no one in the media reminds Hillary about now in this mortgage crisis, is that it stripped out a Judge's right to stop the eviction of someone who needs to file BK , from the loss of a job or medical bills -or mortgage crookery.

Those hard liners had to join with the Republicans to do that -and they did. Clinton joined in their fray with glee- those are her biggest donors..
All those Democrats "crossing party lines in unity" only did so on pro-war and pro-business matters -and were and are almost always opposite the principles of the majority of Democrats.

Schumer and Emanuel used the purse strings of their respective Campaign Committees to drive out real Democratic candidates and bring in even more of their ilk.
Now nothing gets done, the Democrats are despised more than ever, and the Democrats are more divided than ever.

When you see the individuals supporting the two candidates, -you easily see Clinton getting all those pro-business pro-war hard liners. MSNBC, NBC and CNN are also run by those same hard liners - and -to finally get to my point -why for the first time I've noticed an implicit and explicit fundamental movement of those hard liners to keep Obama out of that White House. And they are and will do anything to accomplish that.

It is the media, taking that shining light you and Obama hoped for -and deliberately highlighting Clinton's poor abused little white face next to the stark blackness of Obama while Wright's voice rings with rage, repeating that scene over and over and over - f***the war and everything and everybody else- with a vengence and an evil glee I have never seen in my thirty years in politics.

[outnow]

MLK, Jr. talked of race, peace, and poverty, and how there were all interconnected. The war in Vietnam took us off the gold standard and history has witnessed an increase in poverty in this country.

I am glad that the author of this post has the vision to see a better world and how the words of MLK, Jr. are as important now as they were then.

The autobiography of Gandhi is also important.

[Sundialsvc4]

HuffPost's Pick

No matter what the color of your skin, no matter what your temperament or political preference, do not let yourself be lead around by artful words and empty speeches, from any man or woman, white or black. "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity." "Broad is the way."

[AjicNYC]

WHERE IS WRIGHT!!!!!!!

[LeeScho]

Meaning what?

[truesoccermom]

I am a passionate Obama supporter who thinks he can be the greatest leader of my lifetime. I am sad about the events with Pastor Wright because as much as I and other enlightened Democrats see Obama's brilliance in dealing with the issue, I fear there are many others (mainly repubs and working class dems) who are still left with the idea that Obama's "mentor" is an extremist who preaches angry sermons about blacks being victims. While I hope I am wrong in this I think the only way to reach these people (and at the same time silence the hateful right-wing witch hunt about black preachers) is for Pastor Wright to come forward (on Oprah or 60 minutes perhaps). He could explain his background and talk about his struggles as a black man during segregation. He could talk about the Christian and religious aspects of his ministry and explain how he came to know Obama. And finally, wouldn't it be wonderful if he could admit that he too was touched by Obama's speech and recognizes that his past angry rhetoric (preaching as if the country were "static") is no longer helpful and productive in the black community. He could show that Obama is now his "mentor" and demonstrate what a truly amazing leader Obama will be for this country. I think something like this would turn this whole thing around and truly further the discussion that Obama has started. I welcome your thoughts on this.

[Nommo]

He could explain until the cows come home, and you would not get it. America is not attuned to that kind of expression from those kinds of people. Dr. King has been dead for 40 years so he is now "safe" for most Americans. I guess that you don't know that the responses to Wright now are pretty much the same as responses to Dr. King then. If you don't know that, then do your research, which will take your perception further than anything that Wright would say. If you are basing your perception of Obama on what Wright says, save yourself the trouble and vote Hillary, McQuack or Nader.

If not that, enlist in the Marine Corps, serve your country, and you will something a little more deeply about Wright, a man, who if called upon, would have fought for his country.

[truesoccermom]

I "get it." My fear is that so many others do not. I'm simply trying to think of a constructive way to reach others. Please don't attack my character.

[abellofgrace]

Great idea, I'm going to try to email Oprah about that. Stay tuned.

[cybersense]

Racism still alive? What?

Look, if we are going to talk racism, then let's talk about discrimination of gender too. Hell, let's just forget that this man was Obama's advisor on his campaign even after Obama new about his "sermons of sort".

Let's just imagine he didn't say he didn't know about it, then let's just here that he did.

Please do not put him with Martin Luther King. He did so much more and sacifriced so much more.

[JadedAggie]

Yes it's true gender discrimination also needs to be addressed badly as does bigotry based on religion. One of the saddest parts of this campaign was the idea that being muslim was used as a political attack. This campaign has actually been quite ugly as their have been political attacks thrown around based on gender, religion, race, and even sexuality.

[Roses]

Need a new excuse to not talk about race, and a few more red herrings to add to the discussion to divert attention from race besides gender? How about considering class discrimination? How about talking about discrimination of class? How about considering language discrimination? How about considering discrimination of physical ability or discrimination of cognitive ability? How about discrimination against past mental illness? How about discrimination on age? How about discrimination on physical appearance? How about discrimination on financial level?
I am so tired that people throw in gender as a disingenuous excuse to NOT talk about race. Granted there are alot of types of discrimation, but we have to start. This is not about politics this is for the good of our nation.
Obama'08

[BigBen]

When Bill and Hillary wanted to talk about race they were labeled Racists They were playing the race card.Bill was evil for saying that Jessie won because he was black in Alabama.Nobody wanted to talk about race while Obama was winning but when Wright emerged to cost him votes everyone wants to talk about race. So get honest for a change and talk about how dishonest you all are.You guys stink.

[JadedAggie]

If anybody really needs an example of the fact that bigotry and racism are alive and well they need only go to www.martinlutherking.org. It's a site that goes out of it's way to slander everything that MLK Jr. did and even takes shots at the Jewish community and it's role in the civil rights movement. The website is absolutely deplorable and the fact it was able to not only acquire, but maintain such a mainstream domain name is ridiculous.

[cybersense]

So? You are now searching for sites about racism?

What part don't you get? The part where Obama knew these statements were made in these "sermons" and then he said he did not?

Look, Wright was an advisor on his campaign, not just his pastor. Obama knew about this and thought we as citizens would not care?

Look, the speech was good. Obama is a smart person. I am not voting bases on people of black or gender here. I am voting for the one I trust.

Judgement? Sound? No.

[JadedAggie]

You badly need to tone down your rhetoric as my post had absolutely nothing to do with Obama or his campaign. It has to do with the idea that racism is alive and needs to be addressed. I did not find that site because I was looking for it, but knew about it because my 8 year old niece found it when she was doing a short paper for black history month.

[LeeScho]

Have you actually listened entirely to any of the sermons of Rev. Wright? He is far less radical than Martin Luther King, Jr.. Not as artful, perhaps, but sitll powerful and less radical.

It must be trying for certain segments of the American populus to learn over and over again that certain substantial and respectable segments of the Black populus remain unforgiving of the historical transgressions against them. There is not forgiveness because it has not been sought. Arrogance won't speak its name.

Black people of prominence are often asked to disown some other Black person of controversy. McCain could not disown Cunningham because he did not really know him despite several unrecalled meetings. But the issue remains: are we expected to disown everyone with whom we disagree? My life would be remarkably poorer in that circumstance since it is those with whom I disagree who fire my intellect, ward off my indolence and challenge my own ideals and sense of the moment in our lives.