MLK’s Legacy and the Developing Class Character of the Freedom Struggle

http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2017/01/mlks-legacy-and-developing-class.html

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During 1967-8 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sought to articulate a deeper program for the movement against national oppression and economic injustice

By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
January 30, 2017
African American History Month Series No. 1

“Just three weeks prior to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on March 14, 1968, the co-founder and President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) honored an invitation from the Grosse Pointe Human Relations Council to speak on the topic of “The Other America.” He was to examine the-then debate over “open housing” for African Americans amid an unprecedented wave of urban rebellions across the United States…

…However, unless the alliances that are forming are based upon principled political positions, these efforts will inevitably lead right back into the Democratic Party with its betrayal of the working class, poor and nationally oppressed. A revolutionary leadership must emerge to provide a programmatic thrust aimed at exposing and defeating the exploitative and dictatorial system of capitalism and imperialism.”

Note: The author covered the 49th anniversary commemoration of Dr. King’s speech at Grosse Pointe High School South (as it is now known) on January 14, 2017. An audio file of the actual address was played to the audience before a discussion on the historic event. This program was sponsored by the newly-formed Grosse Pointe Chapter of the NAACP. 

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Detroit Martin Luther King Day demonstration through Downtown Detroit on January 15, 2007. The march draws upon the legacy of Dr. King’s peace and social justice work. (Photo: Robert Akrawi)., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.