Belafonte speaks at Duke - but only the Moonie Times knows MLK's heart

[Cell Whitman]

Seems the moonites know what MLK would be thinking today more than his friends and folks who worked with him. You know, people shared his vision...

Belafonte at Duke....

http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2006/01/belafonte_speech.html

Durham, N.C. -- Entertainer and human-rights activist Harry Belafonte spoke for an hour and a half at Duke Chapel Sunday, telling anecdotes about his friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., recounting his rise from poverty to worldwide success as a singer and urging the crowd to pursue King’s dream by helping those in prison, victims of Hurricane Katrina and others in need.

"Dr. King lives. His spirit lives," Belafonte said to the standing-room-only crowd. ...

He was harsh in his criticism of President Bush, saying, "Killing is our easiest tool. When you look at the president who has led us into a dishonorable war that has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people, many our own sons and daughters, I ask myself what Dr. King would have asked...

"It is an act that has driven fear and terror into the hearts of the American people. What is the essential difference in quality of our humanity for those who would do the cruel and tragic deed of flying an airplane into a building and killing 3,000 innocent Americans and those who would lie and lead the nation into a war that has killed hundreds of thousands?

"Excuse me, fellow citizens, if the line for me becomes a little blurred."

Belafonte’s speech was punctuated by applause and the occasional
"Hallelujah!" as he told stories from his own life and also urged the crowd to action.

_________


http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060115-103622-3903r.htm

As America celebrates the birth 77 years ago of the man who changed his name to Martin Luther King Jr., it's worth noting that, while King is famously renowned for his selfless dedication to fighting, nonviolently, segregation and discrimination, it is another side of the Baptist preacher that will be heralded today at in North Carolina and New York. It is a political face that many Americans, across the generations, are unaware. More importantly, it is not the face of a Nobel Peace winner that led to his honor today with a national holiday.

In New York City today, Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton are scheduled to "lock arms" in solidarity with the Rev. Al Sharpton New York State Attorney general Eliot Spitzer and their sisters and brothers in the labor movement to honor King. The event is touted as the "nation's largest MLK Day Event," and includes a march and rally of more than 10,000 members of the transport workers union and the Service Employees International Union. The labor officials claim home health-aides -- "often women, single mothers and recent immigrants who are often the sole providers for their families" -- "continue to be among the poorest paid workers in New York." ...

Duke officials said they unanimously selected Mr. Belafonte as a speaker because he and King were closely aligned.

Indeed, the King-Belafonte relationship is well known, as Mr. Belafonte, like untold others, literally stood shoulder-to-shoulder with King during the height of the civil rights movement. But while we know that King would be as strident a defender of free speech today as he was in his lifetime, we doubt he would encourage or condone his erstwhile brother's venomous attacks on Colin Powell and others.

To be sure, King, whose birth name was Michael, was a self-styled democratic socialist -- an ideological posture that many Americans simply do not know about. But he also was much more -- a minister, father and husband, cofounder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and a profound orator who inarguably led to the downfall of Jim Crow. (Some Democrats are still in denial.)

America celebrates the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. today not because of his socialist idealism, but because of what he accomplished in spite of it. It's unfortunate that the unions, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Schumer and Mr. Belafonte would gray today with their distorted political views. Today of all days, we should not tarnish the legacy of a man who helps today's youth keep their eyes on the prizes of faith, education and a better America.

_________

fyi- there is an excellent interview with MLK from 1957 found here

http://www.archive.org/details/openmind_ep727

called the "New Negro". About 7:30 in MLK is asked in so many words, in a nice way, if he thinks he should keep being an uppity negro to reach his goals. MLK is one of the greatest politicians of the 20th century and he tells the fellow - no stopping now...

[Nikki Stone 1]

1. Oh, that smarmy Moonie paper....

What a waste of newsprint

[bumblebee1]

3. Use it to line the bird cage.

On second thought, don't. It will do irreparable harm to the birds.

[G_j]

2. keep their eyes on the prize

and WE will tell you what that prize is.
:puke: