50 year anniversary of the March on Washington. Dr Martin Luther King's dream, how much of it has co

[the nomad]

How much of Dr King's dream has come true? Did he die and countless others die in vain? Is A$AP Ferg's "Shabba Ranks" part of King's dream? How will you spend August 28th?

 

[al audi]

If he was around still. His stress levels would be through the roof in this modern age.

 

[memphisboi55]

All Hail The King!

 

[216301baller]

Proud to be a black man

 

[fontaine]

Proud to be a black man

this...

although some people do things that dont reflect well, the thing is every culture, race etc has people in it that dont make the best choices, or do things that most inside of their culture,race would frown upon.

the only problem is with black people in particular, its PROMOTED. its pushed to the forefront, and the stereotype is reinforced by media.

with MLKs speech, i dont think people realize that it wasnt THAT LONG AGO... 50 years is not a long time. my parents were kids, but they know that it wasnt over as soon as the speech ended.

however, the heights that many different people, not just blacks, have reached despite the power structure trying to keep the thumb down on them is remarkable. i really like how so many minorities havent given up their dreams, because it can be disheartening when you know you have to work 2x as hard as the next white guy.

to me, being a minority, a functional contributor to society, and a hard working person is something to be proud of, and i think sometimes, we lose focus on that. we accept the defeat and take it, instead of taking on the challenge.

i'm glad to be a black man. i love my black women to the UMPTEENTH degree (that skin, that mass... ) i hope that things will continue to improve. it will NEVER be perfect, but I love being apart of the growth and change.

 

[solewoman]

Taking pops to see the MLK monument. Probably the night before. Monuments always look cooler at night.

 

[nationaltruckerdave]

MLK is so overrated

 

[SC kid]

I had a dream i cut open a triceratops like a ton ton in empire strikes back and when i went inside of it i was transported to the playboy mansion in 1987.

So take that.

"Doctor"

 

[the nomad]

Proud to be a black man

This, I don't think people realize he took a fatal bullet to the neck to make ALL OF MODERN DAY African-American culture possible. Jordans, sports, movie, film, education, business, and anything else that involves us living free and being treated somewhat fair in this country. I owe it to that man to die leaving behind something great as he did. Anything less is unacceptable.

For anybody to speak ill of King in the slightest, makes them an idiot and worthless to society. 

 

[fontaine]

Proud to be a black man

This, I don't think people realize he took a fatal bullet to the neck to make ALL OF MODERN DAY African-American culture possible. Jordans, sports, movie, film, education, business, and anything else that involves us living free and being treated somewhat fair in this country. I owe it to that man to die leaving behind something great as he did. Anything less is unacceptable.


For anybody to speak ill of King in the slightest, makes them an idiot and worthless to society. 

*waits for someone to come in and throw shade on him for getting yambs, as if those mistakes negates his entire legacy*

 

[Mark Antony]

Shabba shabba Ranks is exactly his dream, greater freedom of expression. Bill Cosby *** ****** only ever wanna focus on our negatives instead of the progress.

 

[kingkoopa]

He'd be disgusted at Rev Al Sharpton being the quote on quote spokesman for us tho. He'd be happy at how far we've come but he'd be pissed we don't have a strong black leader.

 

[the nomad]

Shabba shabba Ranks is exactly his dream, greater freedom of expression. Bill Cosby *** ****** only ever wanna focus on our negatives instead of the progress.

I never said A$AP Ferg couldn't express himself, nor did I pass judgement on his music, how can I? But YOU however, called "Shabba Ranks" negative and defended its freedoms on expression in one sentence. What does that say? What does that say about YOU? US? BLACKS?

 

[Mark Antony]

He'd be disgusted at Rev Al Sharpton being the quote on quote spokesman for us tho. He'd be happy at how far we've come but he'd be pissed we don't have a strong black leader.

"He'd be" gibberish, don't start that. If anything, he spoke of a society where we wouldn't specifically need a black leader.

 

[Mark Antony]

Shabba shabba Ranks is exactly his dream, greater freedom of expression. Bill Cosby *** ****** only ever wanna focus on our negatives instead of the progress.

I never said A$AP Ferg couldn't express himself, nor did I pass judgement on his music, how can I? But YOU however, called "Shabba Ranks" negative and defended its freedoms on expression in one sentence. What does that say? What does that say about YOU? US? BLACKS?

Huh? Get your emotions in check and take your pills for the day. 1st sentence is one statement, 2nd is a seperate one. 1st is an appreciation of what we can do as far as of freedom to do say what we truly want to say. I like the song. The 2nd, a general reference to the history of this argument since it began on NT, no one in particular. You've been slow though, I think you just like to talk.

 

[the nomad]

Huh? Get your emotions in check and take your pills for the day. 1st sentence is one statement, 2nd is a seperate one. 1st is an appreciation of what we can do as far as of freedom to do say what we truly want to say. I like the song. The 2nd, a general reference to the history of this argument since it began on NT, no one in particular. You've been slow though, I think you just like to talk.

I do like to talk, that's the the primary function of a forum. However who is emotional? Certainly not me. Lastly my reply is the same, you defended a song, called it negative and said the song had a right to be negative.

Your words not mines, again, what does that say about you? Us? Blacks? For the record, I'm not arguing, just trying to understand where you are coming from.

 

[Mark Antony]

Again, two completely different arguments you goof. I'm not calling it negative, let me rephrase it for you:

1.Shabba shabba Ranks is exactly his dream, greater freedom of expression.
2. Also, whenever this argument (which is a constant on NT) comes up, Bill Cosby *** ****** only ever wanna focus on our negatives instead of the progress (as evidenced by some of the replies already saying how disappointed Dr. King would be).

I can't stand spelling things out for dudes, especially one who spends so much time writing, you should have a greater understanding of context. I actually don't believe that you don't get that, it's too obvious. Please believe i'm done though, I have no intent on feeding your need for arguments and online excitement due to your circumstances. Came in here on a seemingly normal thread you think would be free of your typical nonsense, pretty much agreeing with your thoughts but look where you took it, no wonder your threads fail. There is no hope for you. Commence the decline.

 

[the nomad]

So you're getting angry because of your poorly constructed sentence? I don't understand why you would think someone deliberately would come online to argue, yet you called me a goof and slow.

 

[htg designs]

If he was around still. His stress levels would be through the roof in this modern age.

I dont think so. His speeches were always aimed at equal opportunity for all. Even thought perfect equality is impossible, the playing field has been vastly remodeled since he walked the earth. We, as blacks have way more rights and liberties, and access to enhancing our lives. There are still inequalities and struggle that exist but we have made vast progress and I think he would proudly agree.

 

[a blinkin]

this...

although some people do things that dont reflect well, the thing is every culture, race etc has people in it that dont make the best choices, or do things that most inside of their culture,race would frown upon.

the only problem is with black people in particular, its PROMOTED. its pushed to the forefront, and the stereotype is reinforced by media.

with MLKs speech, i dont think people realize that it wasnt THAT LONG AGO... 50 years is not a long time. my parents were kids, but they know that it wasnt over as soon as the speech ended.

however, the heights that many different people, not just blacks, have reached despite the power structure trying to keep the thumb down on them is remarkable. i really like how so many minorities havent given up their dreams, because it can be disheartening when you know you have to work 2x as hard as the next white guy.

to me, being a minority, a functional contributor to society, and a hard working person is something to be proud of, and i think sometimes, we lose focus on that. we accept the defeat and take it, instead of taking on the challenge.

i'm glad to be a black man. i love my black women to the UMPTEENTH degree (that skin, that mass... ) i hope that things will continue to improve. it will NEVER be perfect, but I love being apart of the growth and change.

 

[iYen]

MLK is so overrated

bring back the wait period

 

[wr]

 

[sunshineblotters]

How much of Dr King's dream has come true?

Next to none. He would be ashamed today's reality

 

[wr]

Next to none. He would be ashamed today's reality

"I've come upon something that disturbs me deeply," he said. "We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know that we will win. But I've come to believe we're integrating into a burning house." MLK

 

[Methodical Management]

Obviously the centrality of the "I Have a Dream" speech within Dr. King's legacy has proven quite problematic, as its popular interpretation has focused on what Dr. King would describe as that false peace which is the absence of tension as opposed to a positive peace, which is the presence of justice. 

Far, far too many people tend to take this speech out of context, which was a March on Washington for Jobs and Equality, and conceptualize it as some distant ideal, an end disembodied from its means.  

Not enough attention is paid to King's final years.  Though there's no way to know for certain how he'd feel about America in 2013, perhaps the best clue comes from his Christmas Sermon on peace in 1967: 

In 1963, on a sweltering August afternoon, we stood in Washington, DC, and talked to the nation about many things.  Towards the end of that afternoon, I tried to talk to the nation about a dream that I had had, and I must confess to you today that not long after talking about that dream I started seeing it turn into a nightmare.  I remember the first time I saw that dream turn into a nightmare, just a few weeks after I had talked about it.  It was when four beautiful, unoffending, innocent Negro girls were murdered in a church in Birmingham, Alabama.  I watched that dream turn into a nightmare as I moved through the ghettos of the nation and saw my black brothers and sisters perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity, and saw the nation doing nothing to grapple with the Negroes' problem of poverty.  I saw that dream turn into a nightmare as I watched my black brothers and sisters in the midst of anger and understandable outrage, in the midst of their hurt, in the midst of their disappointment, turn to misguided riots to try to solve that problem.  I saw that dream turn into a nightmare as I watched the war in Vietnam escalating, and as I saw so-called military advisers, 16,000 strong, turn into fighting soldiers until today over 500,000 American boys are fighting on Asian soil.  Yes, I am personally the victim of deferred dreams, of blasted hopes, but in spite of that I close today by saying that I still have a dream, because, you know, you can't give up in life.  If you lose hope, somehow you lose that vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you to go on in spite of it all.  And so today I still have a dream.

I urge everyone to read (or re-read) this sermon in its entirety:  

http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/christmas-sermon#

Dr. King's message of nonviolence, hope, interdependence, and justice was a timely one in 1967, and it's a timely one in 2013.  

Whether we share the same spiritual beliefs as Dr. King or not, we'd all do well to share his sense of love and compassion, as well as his unwavering dedication to peace and equality.  

Is A$AP Ferg's "Shabba Ranks" part of King's dream?

"Part of King's dream" involved being judged based on the content of your character, meaning, in part, that ONE person's actions, sponsored by and sold to an American public with an seemingly insatiable appetite for minstrelsy and racist stereotype, would not be used to defame or DEFINE an entire race or ethnicity.

It is telling that people do not view Breaking Bad, Dexter, or Jackass as an indictment of "White culture", and proof positive that Whites celebrate criminality and revel in ignorance.  

MLK is so overrated

I'm tired of your racist trolling.  Your recent post history is a disgrace.  

I find it sad indeed that you're so desperate for attention that you don't seem to care whether it's positive or negative so long as your existence is acknowledge and your impact is felt.  A troll has the mentality of a flea.  Do better.

Taking pops to see the MLK monument. Probably the night before. Monuments always look cooler at night.

Good timing.  They just completed the repairs yesterday to remove the erroneous quote.  Personally, I think you should consider checking it out in the daytime, too.  

Some monuments seem best appreciated during moments of quiet personal reflection.  With this one, I feel like you want to experience it with strangers.  You want to walk through the mountain of despair with people you've never met before.  You want to appreciate the diversity of the crowd assembled in front of Dr. King's image, smiling, talking, taking pictures, and reading his words.  If you go there alone at night, you're going to get a different feeling from it.  It's more powerful and uplifting, to me, as a gathering place.  For every kid staring at a cell phone or snapping a selfie, you'll find at least two people who are legitimately moved by the experience and no matter how many times I pass through, seeing their reactions allows me to enjoy the monument anew.