Selma' Portrays the True Martin Luther King Jr: A Radical Despised by the Political Establishment

[Report1212]

Can't wait to see it

While "Selma" focuses on King's campaign in Alabama and does not tell the tales of resisting the Vietnam War or the Poor People's Campaign, it is an important departure from the traditional narrative about King: that he was an eloquent activist who brought people together in order to overcome an extreme fringe of racists. The movie is honest in its portrayal of King as a radical and his movement as people who very much wanted to upset the status quo and risk alienating the political establishment to force progress. We can only hope the film renews discussion and debate about the necessary place of radicalism in our politics, radicalism that was so nobly represented by MLK.

Read more: http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/selma-portrays-true-martin-luther-king-jr-radical-despised-political-establishment?page=0%2C2&paging=off&current_page=1#bookmark

[True Blue Door]

1. That is an equally valid narrative to the "traditional" one

but I think both are true. There were plenty of "establishment" figures who supported him, and plenty who despised him. I don't dismiss the political support he got because it was usually cautious and equivocal - the civil rights community itself wasn't universal in its support for King's message and strategies, as the rise of more militant groups later in the decade demonstrated.

Of course JFK worried that if he backed King, King might turn out to be crazy or more radical than his basic message indicated - that's a common sense discussion to have in the White house when an administration is considering associating itself with a controversial movement. They obviously didn't know the future, and didn't know what kind of legacy King would ultimately represent. Acting like they were being cowardly is just post hoc reasoning, believing that historical figures somehow knew the future and should have acted accordingly.

[Jackpine Radical]

4. Excellent.

[Report1212]

6. Not sure cowardly the word for JFK wiretapping King

but point taken

[True Blue Door]

7. The Kennedys were vetting King for continued association. Hoover was the hostile player.

The results turned out in favor of King, and the Civil Rights movement. They found nothing other than lame personal stuff that the opposition might have exploited.

[Initech]

2. Can't wait to see it either. The trailer looks great.

[Bjorn Against]

3. It looks like a great movie

The right-wing has tried so hard to spin King's words to make people believe he was one of their own, but just watching the trailer for Selma it is clear that this movie is going to show King as he really was rather than the person the right wing has tried to pretend he was. I can't wait to see it.

[daredtowork]

5. This is a great point +++1

What often bothers me about high level pundits who want to "inspire movements" today is they back away as soon as soon as there is any sign of a "rabble". Within the Democratic party they claim the "rational center" (usually some "bipartisan" or, even better, "nonpartisan" solution) while they sneer at the "crazy leftwing even if the people in the room presenting socially just solutions aren't crazy at all. Thus they are part of the problem that has consistently moved the Democratic party right in the name of their *personal* psychological need to feel "above the fray" and not "on the fringe". Their need to find their establishment, class(y) identity this way has been done at the expense of the poor, creating the circumstances that has allowed the infrastructure and programs that would help them to be ignored and demolished.

I believe moving MLK's image from radical to "eloquent peacemaker" has been a key part of this problem. How many (white) wannabe Thought Leaders and Visionaries want to be the new MLK? They want to be MLK because he is preaching, in a unidirectional way, above the fray. People just listen to his powerful words and change happens. He never gets his hands dirty. He never "gets in trouble" or "embarrasses people". No one ever has to put reputations on the line or has to make a hard choice as to whether to be on his side. He is "above" all sides. He is the black equivalent of White Jesus.

I can't wait for Selma to come out, either!