Quote:
Originally Posted by Zerbie
Yeah, I think the timing is an issue. I read one of the speeches and loved reading it, but that was all I wound up taking time for: with regular life, planning travel (we're going all over the place these next few weeks), the usual end of semester chaos, and the round of holiday parties which we have to go to or we won't see our friends or colleagues for like, 2 months  , I took a pass on clicking on these meaty (tofu-y?) threads for now.
It could be the holiday hustle and bustle coming up.
btw: I also like Joe's suggestion of speculating about how to proceed from where we are NOW, versus slipping into making MLK's peculiar niche a sort of textbook. Or, make it textbook if ya want, but understand that every time is unique, and be free to deviate from textbook.
Don't drop the discussion. But another time might work better, at least for me. |
I guess I am from South Africa so I bring a different perspective to this. King followed the principles of Ghandi. He used Ghandi as a textbook so to speak. Nelson Mandela followed King, especially in the later stages of restoring democracy to South Africa, especially in the way he approached the white oppressor post-apartheid.
There are timeless principles here that have been embraced in various liberation movements. I agree that deviation may be necessary, but we cannot proceed forward without deliberate attention to the Civil Rights leaders of the past.
I just wonder if our LGBT movement has spent enough time in sustained thinking about civil rights activism from the past, whether Ghandi, King or Mandela. These men lead successful civil right movements that transformed nations.
I was talking to someone today about this. Harvey Milk was assassinated in 1978 about 30 years ago and we still don't have a federal hate crimes law that includes sexual orientation or gender identity. Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968 and one year later there was a federal hate crimes law including race.
It really gives me pause.