“Either we go up together, or we go down together,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. told civil rights activists during his 1968 “Mountaintop” speech. Leading the charge for fair treatment of Memphis’ garbage collectors, Dr. King’s final remarks on the night before he was assassinated were rooted in his fervent belief in the power of community. He told us that we are called to be … [Read more...]
MLK: A humane society accepts communal responsibility
In Dr. King’s “Ethical Demands for Integration,” he outlines three major themes which are modeled on three key tenets of the American creed: The dignity of the individual. The basic equality of all human beings. Inalienable God-given rights to freedom, justice, and fair opportunity. Both King’s and the philosophical ideology of America’s founding principles are rooted in … [Read more...]
A true community does keep silent
Many of you who know me know that I have made the work and words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. an integral part of all of my work for the past 40 years as a fighter for freedom, justice and equality for African American people and all oppressed and discriminated people in the Twin Cities, throughout Minnesota and the country. As with all his work, Dr. King was always … [Read more...]
MLK: Return flight — a key to the health of the Black community
Who is accountable for the improving the lives of Black people for whom the American dream has been denied? Of course each individual is responsible for his/her own success, but we cannot do it alone. We need each other. Accountability is defined as a relationship between persons or groups, where one is responsible to another for something important — where it actually matters … [Read more...]
Purple Heart Won by Seaman Phillip Turner
From the MSR Legacy Archives As part of our celebration over the next several months of our 80 years of continuous publication, the MSR will be republishing notable stories from our extensive archives of more than 4,000 weekly issues of African American news in Minnesota. Many of our readers will be sure to recognize friends, family and neighbors from the distant and … [Read more...]