By សតិវ អតុ
Martin Luther King Jr. is one of those people who played an
important role in history. He favored socialism but he was not a Marxist or a
Maoist. He definitely contributed immensely to the end of segregation in America . He was
a religious person and he followed a strict policy of non-violence. He was
influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. He
was also a Christian and a Baptist.
As a Maoist I don’t always agree with following
non-violence. There are times when we must fight back. I preferred the Black
Panthers, who were influenced by Maoism, and their philosophy over MLK. But I
have to admit that he accomplished a lot, with his non-violence. At times it
was very effective. MLK was very
progressive. He opposed the Vietnam War. He took a left position on many
issues.
In 1968, King and the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) organized the "Poor People's Campaign." He did lean
towards socialism. According to Institute for New Economic Thinking:
“Consider King’s words in a
letter to Coretta Scott in 1952: “I am much more socialistic in my economic
theory than capitalistic,” he wrote, adding that capitalism had “out-lived its
usefulness” because it had “brought about a system that takes necessities from
the masses to give luxuries to the classes.”
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union ,
that government published a book on MLK. They pointed to a lot of his
accomplishments, yet left out everything about his religion. Whether a writer
is religious or not, he/she should have pointed out that his religion was a
major influence on him, throughout his life.
This last Monday there were two main events for MLK. The
fist was a breakfast in the morning. The other started at noon and lasted until
3pm. That Martin
Luther King, Jr Celebration was held at the WSU
Hughes Metroplex. It was hosted by The
Greater Wichita Ministerial League . It was a religious oriented event that
I did not attend. I have nothing against religious people. I don’t believe in
discriminating against people who believe in religion. But I am not a believer.
So I tend to avoid non-secular events. Various events are held across the
nation, honoring MLK. There is nothing wrong with that—he was a great man and
he did a lot to further civil rights. He deserves his holiday.
This picture from the Hughes Metroplex came from Lacey
Cruse’s Facebook page.
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