Today's Visionary, Not Yesterday's Celebrity: Martin Luther King, Jr's Words with Contemporary Images
By Richard Eskow
Campaign for America's Future
A lot of people in the media are so afraid of offending anyone with controversial truths that they can't even tell the truth about the man whose holiday we're celebrating this weekend. Their coverage could give you the impression that the purpose of Martin Luther King, Jr's life was simply to make everybody in this country feel good about themselves - so good, in fact, that we deserve a day off just for having the wisdom to be born American.
You might be forgiven for thinking that everybody liked and admired Dr. King while he was alive - except maybe for a few angry old white people down South, who later realized the errors of their ways and were very sorry. The media have been so reluctant to convey Dr. King's true message that Glenn Beck can claim to have inherited his mantle and millions of people believe him. They're so afraid of telling his truth that a Pentagon official can claim that the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the spiritual heir to Gandhi's mantle of nonviolence, would have supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In this fame-addicted age, this activist and challenger of comfortable ideals has been presented as just another celebrity. And these days "celebrity" is another word for "commodity." Dr. King: Didn't they use his picture for one of those Apple ads? Or was it Nike? Didn't he have his picture taken with movie stars and singers? Future generations may come to believe he was famous just for being famous - you know, like Heidi Montag.
This weekend Dr. King's name will be spoken by politicians and business leaders who would probably despise what he would have had to say about 21st Century America. They'll try to appropriate his name and memory to ensure their own well-being. They hope to domesticate his moral challenge in order to protect their own ambition.
Fortunately, Martin Luther King left his words behind. In his honor, here are ten quotes from Dr. King, illustrated with images from today's events to show their continued meaning. If they don't manage to comfort the afflicted on this national holiday - and at least unsettle the comfortable - they're followed by a slide show with even more quotes.
To Read the Ten Quotes with the Images and the Meanings
Showing posts with label Celebrity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celebrity. Show all posts
Monday, January 17, 2011
Friday, July 30, 2010
Al Jazeera: Superclass
Superclass
Al Jazeera
A new breed has emerged; they set the global agenda, ride on Gulfstreams and manage the credit crunch in their spare time.
They are anything but elected; they are entrepreneurs and entertainers, media moguls and former politicians - the self-made super rich who are using their money to lay down a new set of global rules.
They have more in common with each other than with their countrymen, set apart by their ability to regularly influence the lives of millions of people around the globe.
So where did this new global aristocracy come from and who is keeping them in check?
Why should Oprah Winfrey have the ear of President Obama, and who gave Shakira the right to dictate education policy?
But then again, when you have as much money as Bill Gates and you are prepared to give it over to a good cause who is going to stop you?
It is all well and good until the revolving door spins in the wrong direction. Empire talks to Christopher Hitchens about Henry Kissinger and his life beyond elected power - it does not seem to have changed that much.
Is the world suffering from a global governance gap? Should we be worried that the superclass seems to have an ever-expanding reach that bypasses governments and remains unchecked?
Link to the Webpage
Al Jazeera
A new breed has emerged; they set the global agenda, ride on Gulfstreams and manage the credit crunch in their spare time.
They are anything but elected; they are entrepreneurs and entertainers, media moguls and former politicians - the self-made super rich who are using their money to lay down a new set of global rules.
They have more in common with each other than with their countrymen, set apart by their ability to regularly influence the lives of millions of people around the globe.
So where did this new global aristocracy come from and who is keeping them in check?
Why should Oprah Winfrey have the ear of President Obama, and who gave Shakira the right to dictate education policy?
But then again, when you have as much money as Bill Gates and you are prepared to give it over to a good cause who is going to stop you?
It is all well and good until the revolving door spins in the wrong direction. Empire talks to Christopher Hitchens about Henry Kissinger and his life beyond elected power - it does not seem to have changed that much.
Is the world suffering from a global governance gap? Should we be worried that the superclass seems to have an ever-expanding reach that bypasses governments and remains unchecked?
Link to the Webpage
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Democracy Now: Pioneering African American Actress, Singer and Civil Rights Activist Lena Horne, 92, Dies
(This is from May 11th, I was listening to this episode on my walk to work today and was very moved by it)
Democracy Now
Pioneering African American Actress, Singer and Civil Rights Activist Lena Horne, 92, Dies
Lena Horne enjoyed a six-decade singing career on stage, television and in film. She was the first black woman to be signed to a long-term contract by a major Hollywood studio. She helped break racial boundaries by acting alongside white entertainers, but she was segregated on screen so producers could clip out her singing when the movies ran in the South. In the 1950s, she was blacklisted in part because of her friendship with Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Du Bois. In 1963, Lena Horne took part in the March on Washington alongside Harry Belafonte and Dick Gregory and was part of a group, which included authors James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry, that met with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to urge a more active approach to desegregation. We air a rare 1966 interview with Lena Horne from the Pacifica Radio Archives and speak to her biographer, James Gavin.
To Read/Listen/Watch the Episode
Part II: Singer and Civil Rights Activist Lena Horne Remembered
The pioneering African-American actress, singer, and civil rights activist has died at the age of 91. We speak with James Gavin, author of, Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne, about her activism, her friendship with Harry Belafonte, President Obama’s remarks after her passing, and more.
To Read/Listen/Watch the Episode
Democracy Now
Pioneering African American Actress, Singer and Civil Rights Activist Lena Horne, 92, Dies
Lena Horne enjoyed a six-decade singing career on stage, television and in film. She was the first black woman to be signed to a long-term contract by a major Hollywood studio. She helped break racial boundaries by acting alongside white entertainers, but she was segregated on screen so producers could clip out her singing when the movies ran in the South. In the 1950s, she was blacklisted in part because of her friendship with Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Du Bois. In 1963, Lena Horne took part in the March on Washington alongside Harry Belafonte and Dick Gregory and was part of a group, which included authors James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry, that met with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to urge a more active approach to desegregation. We air a rare 1966 interview with Lena Horne from the Pacifica Radio Archives and speak to her biographer, James Gavin.
To Read/Listen/Watch the Episode
Part II: Singer and Civil Rights Activist Lena Horne Remembered
The pioneering African-American actress, singer, and civil rights activist has died at the age of 91. We speak with James Gavin, author of, Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne, about her activism, her friendship with Harry Belafonte, President Obama’s remarks after her passing, and more.
To Read/Listen/Watch the Episode
Monday, May 31, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
No Logo: Brands, Globalization, Resistance (USA: Sut Jhally/Naomi Klein, 2003)
Media Education Foundation
In the age of the brand, logos are everywhere. But why do some of the world's best-known brands find themselves on the wrong end of the spray paint can -- the targets of anti-corporate campaigns by activists and protesters?
No Logo, based on the best-selling book by Canadian journalist and activist Naomi Klein, reveals the reasons behind the backlash against the increasing economic and cultural reach of multinational companies. Analyzing how brands like Nike, The Gap, and Tommy Hilfiger became revered symbols worldwide, Klein argues that globalization is a process whereby corporations discovered that profits lay not in making products (outsourced to low-wage workers in developing countries), but in creating branded identities people adopt in their lifestyles.
Using hundreds of media examples, No Logo shows how the commercial takeover of public space, destruction of consumer choice, and replacement of real jobs with temporary work - the dynamics of corporate globalization - impact everyone, everywhere. It also draws attention to the democratic resistance arising globally to challenge the hegemony of brands.
Link
To preview the book
In the age of the brand, logos are everywhere. But why do some of the world's best-known brands find themselves on the wrong end of the spray paint can -- the targets of anti-corporate campaigns by activists and protesters?
No Logo, based on the best-selling book by Canadian journalist and activist Naomi Klein, reveals the reasons behind the backlash against the increasing economic and cultural reach of multinational companies. Analyzing how brands like Nike, The Gap, and Tommy Hilfiger became revered symbols worldwide, Klein argues that globalization is a process whereby corporations discovered that profits lay not in making products (outsourced to low-wage workers in developing countries), but in creating branded identities people adopt in their lifestyles.
Using hundreds of media examples, No Logo shows how the commercial takeover of public space, destruction of consumer choice, and replacement of real jobs with temporary work - the dynamics of corporate globalization - impact everyone, everywhere. It also draws attention to the democratic resistance arising globally to challenge the hegemony of brands.
Link
To preview the book
Monday, January 18, 2010
Media Matters: Chris Hedges -- Empire of Illusion
Christopher Hedges, author of Empire of Illusion
Media Matters with Bob McChesney
Pulitzer Prize winner, Christopher Hedges, whose weekly Truthdig column is published every Monday, is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute and a Lecturer in the Council of the Humanities and the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University. He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. Hedges, who has reported from more than 50 countries, worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times. His book, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle is his latest publication.
To Listen to the Interview
Media Matters with Bob McChesney
Pulitzer Prize winner, Christopher Hedges, whose weekly Truthdig column is published every Monday, is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute and a Lecturer in the Council of the Humanities and the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University. He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. Hedges, who has reported from more than 50 countries, worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times. His book, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle is his latest publication.
To Listen to the Interview
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Ted Striphas: The Late Age of Print - Everyday Book Culture from Consumerism to Control (Columbia UP, 2009)
In the midst of hysterical rants about the end of print culture it was a pleasure to read Striphas' book. Essential sections include the strange history of ISBNs and their transformation (especially as "control" devices), the development and effect of big-box bookstores, the Oprah-effect on book sales, the global Harry Potter lawsuits, and corporate attempts at controlling culture.
Late Age of Print--The Video
Late Age of Print--The Video
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