by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
Since the onset of the Obama phenomenon, Dr. Martin Luther King’s birth and death days have been “polluted” by false and ahistorical comparisons between Obama and MLK. The two men represent opposite political poles: one, a radical opponent of imperial war and concentrated economic power, the other, an ally of Wall Street and commander-in-chief of “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” In focusing on King, the man of peace, Tavis Smiley’s PBS special corrects a history that has been distorted, sometimes beyond recognition – not the least by the revisionist and poseur in the White House.
“The meme of militant Black America has been allowed to cannibalise the broader traditions of resistance within which those militants were situated.”
“The book shows how deeply intertwined logics of anti-Muslim racism are with those of anti-Blackness.”
“Billie Holiday reminds us to look unflinchingly at the face of power, to call things by their true names.”
“There is no evidence yet of massive cuts, gradual reductions, or any downsizing whatsoever.”
“Every two years the Band-Aid gets ripped off your heart.”
