General Discussion

sheshe2

(83,889 posts) Mon Dec 10, 2012, 10:03 PM Dec 2012

What Martin Luther King had to say about Right to Work 1961!

Martin Luther King, Jr. saw these efforts for just what they were back in 1961, and he was strongly opposed to so-called “Right To Work” even then.

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http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/09/what-martin-luther-king-had-to-say-about-right-to-work/rtw-king-full/

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What Martin Luther King had to say about Right to Work 1961! (Original Post) sheshe2 Dec 2012 OP

K&R MichiganVote Dec 2012 #1

WOW! Good find, she2.. and they'll still trying to pull it Over Cha Dec 2012 #2

Agree! So clear, cuts right through the fraud. freshwest Dec 2012 #3

Hi Freshwest...he was a beautiful man, who will remain in our hearts forever. sheshe2 Dec 2012 #8

Everything he ever said made perfect sense to me then and now. I don't understand how some don't freshwest Dec 2012 #12

Yes ... 1StrongBlackMan Dec 2012 #15

For that he also said this: freshwest Dec 2012 #18

Thank you Freshwest...as always your posts are eloquent and poignant! I thank you! sheshe2 Dec 2012 #17

Martin knew in 1961... what Governor Snydar has no clue about in 2012! sheshe2 Dec 2012 #4

Oh Cha... sheshe2 Dec 2012 #25

Oh she2, Cha Dec 2012 #31

He sure does carry a very heavy weight upon his shoulders ! sheshe2 Dec 2012 #33

Ohhh, that is such a Cha Dec 2012 #34

HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!! WillyT Dec 2012 #5

K&R nt abelenkpe Dec 2012 #6

Awesome quote and the straight up truth. TheKentuckian Dec 2012 #7

Thanks for posting this quote, She We People Dec 2012 #9

You are Welcome We People... sheshe2 Dec 2012 #10

This would be a fantastic poster for tomorrow's protest in Lansing... ReRe Dec 2012 #11

Jeez ReRe...what a fabulous idea! sheshe2 Dec 2012 #16

Thank you sheshe2 ReRe Dec 2012 #27

ReRe it is going to be so great to see you around! sheshe2 Dec 2012 #28

Lets! ReRe Dec 2012 #30

Agent provocateurs disrupting a demonstration by the Sanitation Workers in Memphis... MinM Dec 2012 #13

Dear God MinM that link brought tears to my eyes! sheshe2 Dec 2012 #19

But according to the right ... 1StrongBlackMan Dec 2012 #14

He connected labor with racial equality. Many deny the profound philosopher that he was. freshwest Dec 2012 #20

We must rapidly begin...we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-or sheshe2 Dec 2012 #23

Very deep thinker, one of mankind's sages. A man for all people. We were blessed. freshwest Dec 2012 #24

DURec leftstreet Dec 2012 #21

A kick and a thanks for posting oasis Dec 2012 #22

Does it make me evil in that i support right to work? Riftaxe Dec 2012 #26

Riftaxe...No you are not evil... sheshe2 Dec 2012 #29

It was not my intent to downplay what unions have given us Riftaxe Dec 2012 #32

MichiganVote

(21,086 posts)

1. K&R

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Mon Dec 10, 2012, 10:08 PM

Dec 2012

Cha

(297,627 posts)

2. WOW! Good find, she2.. and they'll still trying to pull it Over

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Mon Dec 10, 2012, 10:57 PM

Dec 2012

on the Workers.

MAKE IT VIRAL!

freshwest

(53,661 posts)

3. Agree! So clear, cuts right through the fraud.

Reply to Cha (Reply #2)

Mon Dec 10, 2012, 11:05 PM

Dec 2012

sheshe2

(83,889 posts)

8. Hi Freshwest...he was a beautiful man, who will remain in our hearts forever.

Reply to freshwest (Reply #3)

Mon Dec 10, 2012, 11:32 PM

Dec 2012

Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'
Martin Luther King Jr., Speech at Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28, 1963
- More quotations on: [Dreams]

freshwest

(53,661 posts)

12. Everything he ever said made perfect sense to me then and now. I don't understand how some don't

Reply to sheshe2 (Reply #8)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 12:30 AM

Dec 2012

see the beautiful and eternal soul of that man. Their loss. A couple of his quotes on labor:

At the turn of the century women earned approximately ten cents an hour, and men were fortunate to receive twenty cents an hour. The average work week was sixty to seventy hours. During the thirties, wages were a secondary issue; to have a job at all was the difference between the agony of starvation and a flicker of life. The nation, now so vigorous, reeled and tottered almost to total collapse. The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old age pensions, government relief for the destitute, and above all new wage levels that meant not mere survival, but a tolerable life. The captains of industry did not lead this transformation; they resisted it until they were overcome. When in the thirties the wave of union organization crested over our nation, it carried to secure shores not only itself but the whole society.

You are demanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor. So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth.

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.

I like that last one best. It's not really about labor as much as it is about everything...

1StrongBlackMan

(31,849 posts)

15. Yes ...

Reply to freshwest (Reply #12)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 12:51 AM

Dec 2012

Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.

But this concept is rejected by those that buy into the American mythos of the "rugged individualist" and "self-made man."

freshwest

(53,661 posts)

18. For that he also said this:

Reply to 1StrongBlackMan (Reply #15)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 01:24 AM

Dec 2012

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

sheshe2

(83,889 posts)

17. Thank you Freshwest...as always your posts are eloquent and poignant! I thank you!

Reply to freshwest (Reply #12)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 01:15 AM

Dec 2012

You are demanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor. So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth.

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.

sheshe2

(83,889 posts)

4. Martin knew in 1961... what Governor Snydar has no clue about in 2012!

Reply to Cha (Reply #2)

Mon Dec 10, 2012, 11:10 PM

Dec 2012

The Gopers politics and stupidity are mind boggling!

One more war to fight Cha!

sheshe2

(83,889 posts)

25. Oh Cha...

Reply to Cha (Reply #2)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 02:37 AM

Dec 2012

So very many battles to fight!

However as one we WILL stand strong!

Cha

(297,627 posts)

31. Oh she2,

Reply to sheshe2 (Reply #25)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 03:47 AM

Dec 2012

United We Stand!

President Obama walks to the Oval Office upon his return from a trip to Michigan, December 10

http://theobamadiary.com/

Can't even imagine all the things that are going through his mind!

sheshe2

(83,889 posts)

33. He sure does carry a very heavy weight upon his shoulders !

Reply to Cha (Reply #31)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 04:14 AM

Dec 2012

[url=http://postimage.org/][img][/img][/url]
[url=http://postimage.org/]photo uploader[/url]

Cha

(297,627 posts)

34. Ohhh, that is such a

Reply to sheshe2 (Reply #33)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 04:26 AM

Dec 2012

poignant pic. The weight of the world in the rain..

Here's a happier pensive one.. 'cause he's watching sports!

h/t the obama diary

WillyT

(72,631 posts)

5. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Mon Dec 10, 2012, 11:15 PM

Dec 2012

abelenkpe

(9,933 posts)

6. K&R nt

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Mon Dec 10, 2012, 11:20 PM

Dec 2012

TheKentuckian

(25,029 posts)

7. Awesome quote and the straight up truth.

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Mon Dec 10, 2012, 11:22 PM

Dec 2012

We People

(619 posts)

9. Thanks for posting this quote, She

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Mon Dec 10, 2012, 11:44 PM

Dec 2012

As usual, he was way ahead of his time and spoke the dangerous truth. Supporting labor rights were the last humanitarian actions he took before he was killed. Labor struggles in our country have always been fraught with the possibility of the calling in of troops or hired "lawmen" to "take care of" workers, and he was not spared.

If the corporatocracy doesn't take lives in the labor struggles that are happening now, money that workers have been earning will have been stolen from (pensions) and their livelihood taken away. It seems to be a requirement for the HAVES to enjoy taking away the jobs of workers and make them into HAVE-NOTS ...not just for money, but for the power.

Before I get carried away ranting...Thanks again for posting.

sheshe2

(83,889 posts)

10. You are Welcome We People...

Reply to We People (Reply #9)

Mon Dec 10, 2012, 11:47 PM

Dec 2012

Have not seen you in a while!

ReRe

(10,597 posts)

11. This would be a fantastic poster for tomorrow's protest in Lansing...

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 12:30 AM

Dec 2012

...Or one could copy a ream of them and hand them out tomorrow to protesters without a sign.

OK... I hope everyone who is protesting tomorrow is fast asleep so they will be rested for the big day ahead. BUT, if you live in Lansing, and you can't sleep because you are too excited, and you are going tomorrow, and you have an all-night Kinko's in town, and you can afford it, grab you wallet/purse and drive over and get a ream of these copied off. I guarantee, you will not be sorry that you did it.

sheshe2

(83,889 posts)

16. Jeez ReRe...what a fabulous idea!

Reply to ReRe (Reply #11)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 01:09 AM

Dec 2012

That was excellent! ReRe!

ReRe

(10,597 posts)

27. Thank you sheshe2

Reply to sheshe2 (Reply #16)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 03:18 AM

Dec 2012

I'm just a little idea machine.
I just hope someone sees it and follows through!

sheshe2

(83,889 posts)

28. ReRe it is going to be so great to see you around!

Reply to ReRe (Reply #27)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 03:23 AM

Dec 2012

Now lets go get them...shall we!

ReRe

(10,597 posts)

30. Lets!

Reply to sheshe2 (Reply #28)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 03:41 AM

Dec 2012

MinM

(2,650 posts)

13. Agent provocateurs disrupting a demonstration by the Sanitation Workers in Memphis...

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 12:36 AM

Dec 2012

was the reason that Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Memphis on, April 4, 1968.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/MinM/287

sheshe2

(83,889 posts)

19. Dear God MinM that link brought tears to my eyes!

Reply to MinM (Reply #13)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 01:38 AM

Dec 2012

[div class="excerpt"McCullough is this: he was a policeman who worked undercover against a Black Nationalist group. He ended up on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel after King was shot. Six years later he joined the CIA. That's about it. I'm not kidding...]

In that picture, while others are pointing to where they think the shot came from, McCullough appears to be calmly checking King for vital signs while looking across the way. According to what Donaldson told Young, McCullough was on the balcony to check King's pulse and make sure he was dead and signal the military sniper team that no second shot was needed...

1StrongBlackMan

(31,849 posts)

14. But according to the right ...

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 12:45 AM

Dec 2012

(and many on the Left) MLK only said one thing ... That a man should be judged on the contain of his character, not the color of his skin ... as they proceed to defend the status quo that locks in the discrimination of Jim Crow.

freshwest

(53,661 posts)

20. He connected labor with racial equality. Many deny the profound philosopher that he was.

Reply to 1StrongBlackMan (Reply #14)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 01:49 AM

Dec 2012

I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream—a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality. That is the dream...

AFL-CIO Convention, December 1961

Negroes are almost entirely a working people. There are pitifully few Negro millionaires, and few Negro employers. Our needs are identical with labor's needs — decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community. That is why Negroes support labor's demands and fight laws which curb labor. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.

AFL-CIO Convention, December 1961

Transcript is here:

http://4amoreperfectunion.blogspot.com/2011/01/rev-martin-luther-king-jr-april-4-1967.html

For this he was called a communist, but anyone that ever took the time to listen to this speech, hears him being against communism.

They did not want to hear what he had to say. A great loss and great foolishness.

sheshe2

(83,889 posts)

23. We must rapidly begin...we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-or

Reply to freshwest (Reply #20)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 02:25 AM

Dec 2012

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin...we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

As that noble bard of yesterday, James Russell Lowell, eloquently stated:

Once to every man and nation comes a moment to decide,
In the strife of truth and Falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God’s new Messiah offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever ‘twixt that darkness and that light.
Though the cause of evil prosper, yet ‘tis truth alone is strong
Though her portions be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.

And if we will only make the right choice, we will be able to transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of peace. If we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. If we will but make the right choice, we will be able to speed up the day, all over America and all over the world, when "justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

A deeply moving speech from a very great man! I Thank you.

freshwest

(53,661 posts)

24. Very deep thinker, one of mankind's sages. A man for all people. We were blessed.

Reply to sheshe2 (Reply #23)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 02:36 AM

Dec 2012

leftstreet

(36,112 posts)

21. DURec

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 01:50 AM

Dec 2012

oasis

(49,406 posts)

22. A kick and a thanks for posting

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 02:07 AM

Dec 2012

Kick

Riftaxe

(2,693 posts)

26. Does it make me evil in that i support right to work?

Reply to sheshe2 (Original post)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 03:17 AM

Dec 2012

Perhaps it is because i am older, but no [s]corporation [/s] or union should be able to force non members to pay protection money.

Unions have changed a lot in the last 30 years, some i barely recognize and revile, most i still support.

When the larger unions decide if they want to be corporations or unions I will be there for them nationally, for now, I do it best voting union locally.

sheshe2

(83,889 posts)

29. Riftaxe...No you are not evil...

Reply to Riftaxe (Reply #26)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 03:39 AM

Dec 2012

However if you posted this elsewhere...yeah you would have been slammed... However my nature is more peaceful.

I am older too. A few years ago my company had a meeting to dissuade us from talking to any union. They told us to talk to management if we had any issues. They would take care of it! NOT!

Unions have given us much...whether we are members or not!

Peace
She

Riftaxe

(2,693 posts)

32. It was not my intent to downplay what unions have given us

Reply to sheshe2 (Reply #29)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 03:58 AM

Dec 2012

Safe workplaces, a decent wage etc.

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