Once the beating was over, we were free
What most people who reference Dr. King seem not to know is how Dr. King actually changed the subjective experience of life in the United States for African Americans. And yeah, I said for African Americans, not for Americans, because his main impact was his effect on the lives of African Americans, not on Americans in general. His main impact was not to make white people nicer or fairer. That's why some of us who are African Americans get a bit possessive about his legacy. Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy, despite what our civil religion tells us, is not color blind.
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That is what Dr. King did—not march, not give good speeches. He crisscrossed the south organizing people, helping them not be afraid, and encouraging them, like Gandhi did in India, to take the beating that they had been trying to avoid all their lives.
Once the beating was over, we were free.
It wasn't the Civil Rights Act, or the Voting Rights Act or the Fair Housing Act that freed us. It was taking the beating and thereafter not being afraid. So, sorry Mrs. Clinton, as much as I admire you, you were wrong on this one. Our people freed ourselves and those Acts, as important as they were, were only white people officially recognizing what we had done.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/29/1011562/-Most-of-you-have-no-idea-what-Martin-Luther-King-actually-did
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Dark times ahead. My family and extended family are mixed race. They are Jewish and LGBT Black Mexican and Japanese.
Be safe now, all of you be safe. Take care of you and yours, then stand up for those around you.
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It makes so much sense to understand that it was being brave enough to take the beating that made the Civil Rights campaign work so well. It was the bravery that really tugged at our souls and made us open our eyes to what had been going on. I was a white girl in Indiana with parents who never said a racist thing in their lives. I was in an integrated school where everyone got along as far as I knew (and as far as I still know). I was shocked when Civil Rights became an issue because I had absolutely no idea that anyone judged black people differently, that they were treated differently. But I was still a kid then, in junior high. Seeing the attacks at the lunch counters, watching the news when churches were bombed horrified me. Emmett Till still haunts me. It opened my eyes and I learned to listen more after that and to read things that made me more aware of white privilege.
I WILL stand with my African American brothers and sisters. I will stand with LGBT, Muslims, and yes... with women who will likely lose many of their rights as well. I will not go down the road of looking the other way, of normalizing awful things.
I promise I won't let anyone down.
I am not an AA, but I remember being stirred by Dr. King, at an age when I was learning about life and what's valuable. Yes, I remember his great speeches, his outsized presence, but also, as the article states, the fact that he got off his ass and DID something real. Something that made a difference.
I once had a sociology professor who told us "A difference to be a difference has to make a difference." Dr. King was one of the giants of history who did, indeed, make a difference.
Stay safe and well, everyone. We need each and every one of you. 
I agree.
However we will all not go quietly into the night.
You nasty...
My niece posted me a pic the other night. My great niece in a onesie...Nasty Girl in Training.
That was lovely. Words to live by. 
STRONGER TOGETHER!
Their rights.
Human Rights.
You can see part of their sign in the back of the photo.
I Am A Man.
Thank you George.
Good to see you. 
