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Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King
Dr Martin Luther King was a world leader for peace and equality. His ideas are as relevant to our world today as they were 40 years ago. His life was tragically cut short by an assassin's bullet in 1968; He stood for:
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES for all people; including equal employment, education and
access to the benefits of the society.
CIVIL LIBERTIES for people of all races and walks of life.
NONVIOLENCE by advocating for rights of individuals and for nations.
ABOLISH POVERTY so that everyone can enjoy the world's gifts and resources.
JUSTICE to assure that the rights of all are respected and could be exercised freely.
PEACE for all mankind.
In his short life Dr King motivated a people and changed a nation. The world recognized his leadership with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
We stand and journey to honor him and his achievements in a world where many are still poor,
face life without equality and freedom and the threat of war is still very real
and immediate.
A Civil Rights Worker Turned Journalist Recalls
What It Was Like Four Decades Ago
By Danny Schechter
Editor, Mediachannel.org
I can still remember the morning. We had spent the week circulating flyers and trying to anticipate
what would happen. No one had ever even attempted a March on the scale of this one.
It had been a hot summer of protest. The civil rights struggle was in full throttle. In August 1963, I
was a full time civil rights worker in Baltimore Maryland. I was on the staff of the Northern Student
Movement (NSM), the northern counterpart to the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Our
organization was working in community based projects in eight Northern cities, offering tutoring for
disadvantaged students in ghetto schools and mounting marches and actions. Earlier in the summer, I
was caught up in what became violent protests at the Glen Echo Amusement Park in the Suburbs. Many of
us were arrested and attacked by rednecks. My name was in the paper as one of those victims.
At the same time, I represented NSM on the Maryland State Committee for the March on Washington. We had
been meeting all summer to plan/organize the mobilization, and to try to make sure that all the labor
and student groups we had reached out to would come. Our own Baltimore Area Youth Opportunities
Unlimited project filled five buses out of East Baltimore, one of the most depressed communities in the
state. [MORE]
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