"King felt the need for one more staff meeting to discuss the Washington mobilization. Jim Bevel and Jesse Jackson continued to argue against the campaign, and King was angry that ‘the greatest doubters,’ as one top staffer termed them, were ‘competing with him for leadership.’ King announced that ‘the question is, what is the most effective manner to achieve the legitimate goals we seek ….. You always have to have some simple something around which you can sloganize and interpret exactly what you are trying to do. And so we go to Washington around jobs or income.’ That focus did not mean that the SCLC would ignore other evils …. Nonetheless, domestic poverty was a more serious crisis, even though it was only the first of many problems that the nonviolent movement had to tackle. ‘There must be a radical reordering of our national priorities …. We’re not going to Washington to beg. I hope we are beyond that stage. We are going to Washington to demand what is ours.’ ….
"While King was away from staff meetings, heated arguments took place over whether inadequate preparations would jeopardize the entire effort. The following afternoon, acknowledging the reports he had heard of the ‘rather stormy’ session, King addressed the staff before the field-workers headed back to their recruiting assignments. Intent upon disposing of Bevel’s and Jackson’s criticisms, King emphasized that ‘we are planning a little more, and a little longer in advance than we have ever planned before.’ For instance, ‘when we started out in Selma we didn’t have one thing on paper in terms of demands. In fact, we didn’t quite know ourselves what the demand was in specific terms ….we didn’t know whether it was something that had to come through the Alabama state legislature or whether it had to come as an act of the federal government.’ Lengthy lists meant less to people than a single clear slogan. ‘You have to have some simple demand around which you galvanize forces …. One simple, single issue …. We are saying in this case, jobs or income, because that is a simple issue around which you can rally more people than almost anything else at this time.’ Additionally, such a focus would make it easier to win some partial, symbolic gains that would revive everyone’ spirits. ‘We have an ultimate goal of freedom, independence, self-determination, whatever you want to call it, but we aren’t going to get all of that next year. Let’s find something that is possible, so achievable, so pure, so simple that even the backlash can’t do much to deny it, and yet something so non-token and so basic to life that even the black nationalists can’t disagree with it that much. Now that’s jobs or income. ….
" ….’We’re going to be militant,’ King declared. ‘We’re going to plague Congress.’ "
--David Garrow; Bearing the Cross; 1999; pages 592-3, 597.
Our nation is facing a number of crises. Some compare the economic collapse as being the most severe since the Great Depression. We are involved in two wars – in Afghanistan and Iraq – that share some similarities with that in Vietnam. And there are serious issues, involving the search for energy sources, and the destruction of the environment, that are quietly stalking our future.
The majority of American families are experiencing the anxiety and fears that come hand-in-hand with such an uncertain future. Many of the issues that the progressive/liberal left has identified as serious problems for many years are now recognized by the "main-stream" as such, in the living rooms across the country, if not the corporate media. The question today is, to quote Dr. King, "Where do we go from here?"
Placing our trust in the "leaders" in Washington, DC, to solve these problems for us is absolutely the worst option. The vast majority of them are, at their very best, liars and thieves. They have created most of these problems – and even those that they didn’t cause, they seek to benefit from. That anyone would expect the parasites in Washington, DC, to resolve these crises is evidence of the damage that the maggots in the corporate media have done to the national consciousness.
When we review our history, in search of models that can be updated and applied today, we find that there is a tipping-point that makes pressure on Washington result in otherwise unwilling officials to be responsive to the public. And that is when the main-stream, or middle class, becomes actively involved. For example, in the Vietnam era, it was when middle America turned on US participation in the war that changes began.
Do not believe the lie that public protests played no significant role in this. They did. In fact, it was the anti-war activism of the grass roots that helped create the atmosphere where leaders such as Senator Robert F. Kennedy became a vocal opponent of the war.
Today, there are some uncreative minds that say, "But things are different today. The culture is not the same." That’s true, but it is hardly reason to sit like sticks in the mud, and wring our hands while we do nothing. The truth is that we have some distinct advantages today.
There are a few good men and women in Washington, including some with the potential to evolve and become true leaders who represent the best interests of the public. And we have a President who was elected as a result of the power of the grass roots. I do not claim that he is perfect, but I will not ignore his request that the grass roots pressure him to do the right thing.
Obama’s campaign itself showed the power of a slogan, "Change We Can Believe In." Last night, I read an OP by DUer "OhioChick," which included the slogan "No Jobs, No Recovery." Beautiful. No paid consultant could come up with anything more perfect.
I also read a couple of OPs/threads regarding public marches/rallies to protest the wars and the economy. Again, I found myself thinking that here is the "leadership" – here is the inspired thinking –that we so desperately need. It’s not to be found in a plush office in a major American city. No, it’s in the living rooms, the college dorms, and in the grass roots meetings across the country.
What I would like to suggest today is that people consider an option that Martin Luther King, Jr., was focused on at the time of his death. I believe that there should be a public demonstration of what poverty and homelessness really is in America. And I’m not speaking only about the most poor among us, although I am convinced that they are a better ally to the middle class, than the middle class has been to them. But those who have recently lost their jobs and homes should be encouraged to come to Washington, and to create the "tent city" that Martin dreamed of creating.
Such a program would involve great difficulties. But being out of a job and losing the roof over your head presents great difficulties. These are difficult times.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle in organizing such a demonstration would involve leadership. As in King’s day, there would be those seeking to promote themselves. And there would be those seeking to disrupt. Yet we can look to Martin’s example, and find that it is those looking to serve the cause, rather than those seeking to benefit from it, who should be recognized as leaders. They will come from the grass roots. If people began today to discuss and promote the idea of a long-term demonstration, a tent city in DC, it could be a reality this summer.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please give it consideration. I look forward to your response.
H2O Man
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