Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr
12 Historic Facts About Martin Luther King Jr.
Monday, January 16, marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the federal date of recognition for one of the most important figures in the civil rights movement. Signed by President Reagan in 1983, the holiday marked the culmination of efforts that started just four days after King’s assassination in 1968, when Representative John Conyers of Michigan began 15 years of introducing and reintroducing a bill to establish the holiday. (Stevie Wonder joined the chorus of Americans backing Conyers’ efforts; in 1980 he wrote the song “Happy Birthday” to help create a groundswell of support.)
While it would be impossible to encompass everything King accomplished in a mere list, we’ve compiled a few intriguing facts that may pique your interest in finding out more about the man who helped unite a divided nation.
1. MARTIN LUTHER KING…
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Posted on 01/15/2017, in Black History Month and tagged birthday, Black history, Dr. Martin Luther King, historical. Bookmark the permalink. 40 Comments.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 
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“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
~Martin Luther King
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The esteemed Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; historically known philanderer who used church donations to have drunken sex parties, hire White prostitutes while occasionally doling out vicious beatings; the same esteemed Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. whose legal birth name was Michael was never legally changed thereby reflecting *Michael King* on his death certificate; the same esteemed Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who appropriated the I Have a Dream Speech from a sermon by Archibald Carey a Black preacher in the 1950’s…. Was a King a Prophet? A visionary of divine inspiration? Maybe, however, should anyone care, I see King as a hypocrite. Yes he was a leader of people and accomplished a great many things, however Dr. King would never have risen to his venerable position with his peaceful marches had it not been for the contrast Malcolm X’s and Huey Newton brought to the table with the “Justice by any means necessary” strategy.
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People are imperfect. The fruit we see from the tree is their heart for others. There needed to be someone to speak out against violence. There needed to be someone to break the stereotype that Blacks are violent and destructive. There needed to be someone who understood the way the government works in order to bring out legislation for the benefit of minorities.
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Agreed, but he was very much a hypocrite, and I feel if a day was created to honor him, there should also be days to honor those who also played principal roles in the civil rights movement… People need to be informed and stop seeing MLK as a saint, he was an ordinary man who accomplished great things, but only when juxtaposed against the likes of other great men.
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Those who are familiar with others who played principal roles in the civil rights movement should lobby and do what they can to have days established to honor them.
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Actually there are a few grassroots effort groups lobbying to influence just such legislation!
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Great! I wish them the best.
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Lady2soothe,
I am sorry and sad for you that you choose not to recognize how Martin Luther King inspired and uplifted the Black community as well as so many others of us with his speeches, his commitment for justice and equality, his demand for voting rights and desegregation and an end to Jim Crow.
He was willing to risk his life for this honorable cause. He kept going despite his house being bombed in 1956 and being jailed 29 times, and ultimately, as John Lewis stated, “gave his life for us.”
I deeply respect and honor Martin Luther King.
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Yahtzeebutterfly
Why would you be sorry, feel sad or jump to the conclusion I don’t recognize MLK as inspiring or uplifting? Was it because I pointed out facts? Or maybe because I wrote he would never have risen to his venerable position with his peaceful marches had it not been for the contrast Malcolm X and Huey Newton brought to the table with the “Justice by any means necessary” strategy?
Are you denying King was a philanderer, used church donations to have drunken sex parties, hired White prostitutes, gave vicious beatings, his given name was Michael or he appropriated Archibald Carey’s “I Have a Dream Speech” sermon?
If so your negationism means you’re making a conscience choice to ignore accepted pertinent parts of history by revisionism and denying established facts.
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Thanks for correcting me and letting me know that you recognize Martin Luther King as being inspiring and uplifting. I am sorry.
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Yahtzeebutterfly … Allow me to clarify why I feel disclosing Kings hypocrisy was critical.
King was a beautifully eloquent speaker, handsome and charismatic with a dynamic personality drawing thousands upon thousands of followers, but King was just an ordinary man with faults and character defects like the rest of us. When we focus solely on his achievements without contrasting him with other Civil Rights Leaders not only do we disrespect those who were key to change, we alter not only Kings history but the history of all peoples.
Revisionism is not dissimilar than schools teaching watered down versions of history; lovely sprawling cotton plantations, southern bells sitting on wide veranda’s discussing the weather and sipping lemonade offered by stylishly dressed Negro butlers; or cowboy’s bravely circling wagon’s to save their womenfolk from savage Indians hell-bent on scalping, raping and pillaging. I’m not saying those things may not be true, what I am saying is, we need to disclose all the facts, not just the ones we’re comfortable with.
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Thanks so much for sharing that, Lady2Soothe. I appreciate your clarification of your viewpoint.
Lately I have been reading books about local leaders of the civil rights movement. It is wonderful that historians are recording their contributions. (Two great books are Freedom’s Daughters: The Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement from 1830 to 1970 and Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi )
I love and learn so much when members of our community here share their ideas and I find it so interesting to see what issues they choose to emphasize and discuss. Thank you for your contributions, Lady2Soothe.
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Lady and Yahtzee,
I really don’t understand the need to “disclose” personal facts about people when they had absolutely nothing to do with their work for the better good. I was in high school when King was assassinated. I don’t remember any of the grown folks saying that he was assassinated because of anything he purportedly did with money, etc.
The change of names back then were different than they are now. People did not go to court to change their names. Many immigrants changed their names — first and last. When social security cards were required to work, it was their new names that went on their social security cards. I don’t see that King’s father changing their names as a disparagement upon his character.
It was the grown folks who passed down history without the revisionism or watered-down versions. Maybe I should point out that my dad was born in 1897.
One of my critical points about “by any means necessary” is that those who promote that type of action are not doing it themselves. It’s more of a provocation that puts others in harm’s way. The one thing we can say about King is that he was right out front in the marches. He didn’t promote peaceful protests and marches then sit back in safety while others were beaten and/or put in jail. He walked what he talked. That’s not to say that others involved in Civil Rights did not have good and honest things to say.
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Omitting and sanitizing facts while excluding conflict, or avoiding anything which reflects badly on someone is to indoctrinate blind loyalty thereby denying people realistic role models to inspire them.
In order to develop informed reasons to either criticize or take pride in those we idolize it’s important to recognize that while King may have been some kind of divine messenger he was also a human being with human faults and weaknesses; a man not so untouchable or his achievements so unattainable that ordinary persons abandon reaching their own ambitions.
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Lady,
I’m afraid that you’ve gone into numerous assumptions, and based your response to me on those assumptions. For example, you speak of “realistic role models to inspire them”. To substantiate that, you would need to point to at least one person who, since 1968, entered the civil rights movement admitting that they were inspired by King. To be balanced and fair, you would also need to point to at least one person who, since 1968, entered the civil rights movement admitting that they were not inspired by King.
But mostly, to be fair and supportive in your position against the opinions of others such as myself, you would need to point out people who entered the civil rights movement because they were inspired by Malcolm Little (aka Malcolm X, since you think that changing names is a disparage on King), or those who organized the Black Panthers.
There’s a saying that you don’t ask a drowning man if he wants to be saved. In the same manner, if I were drowning, I’m not going to interview the person who wants to save me by asking for imperfections in their life. They pull me from the water and I recognize their “heart”, bravery, and action. For me to put forth an effort to find out dirt about them would be a dishonor to my own life. He didn’t have to do it.
In the same manner, based on your comment, it appears that you are only willing that the laws of Jim Crow, voting rights, and desegregation are a benefit to Blacks when and unless they point out things in King’s private life that have absolutely nothing to do with his civil rights accomplishments. And, if people don’t go there, they are worshiping an imperfect god because you say so.
It’s not like that. That’s a straw man argument and actually something I would expect to read by someone opposed to King’s accomplishments.
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Xena, you’re failing to comprehend I do not need to defend my opinion, nor do I need to provide you with examples justifying my conclusions. I’ve stated facts, but rather than logically dispute them you’re throwing shade in order to defend your opinion.
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Lady,
I don’t see what your purported facts have to do with King’s accomplishments in the Civil Rights Movement. They didn’t 50 years ago, and they don’t now. We will have to agree to disagree on this issue.
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Xena… I’ll go with agreeing to disagree but you might consider renaming your post “Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr – 12 Historic Facts About Martin Luther King Jr. BUT ONLY The Ones I’m Comfortable With”
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Ahhh Lady. I think I see the problem. You didn’t read the 12 historic facts in the original post. It’s a re-blog from another blog. Maybe that’s why you complained that King changed his name. That historic fact is number 1 on the list. His father decided to change their names. The blogger embedded links to sources.
Why don’t you take the time to write a post about the historic facts you are comfortable with? Maybe someone will reblog it and change the title to something they are comfortable with.
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I see you want to continue being snaky rather than adhering to your proclamation of “agree to disagree” yet you’re choosing to be confrontational because obviously you’re more interested in arguing than squashing the conversation. When you became personal, insulting and rude, you perceived, as was correct, that I as your opponent had the upper hand, and you were going to come off bettering me. Didn’t work. Why didn’t you just say “the conversation only matters when you’re saying what I want and you’re quiet”? No problem, I’ve already unsubscribed to your blog.
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Lady,
Re:
“I see you want to continue being snaky rather than adhering to your proclamation of “agree to disagree” yet you’re choosing to be confrontational because …”
Let’s go back to your comment previous to the last one. You wrote;
You made an error in judgment after your “but” and my presenting to you that it’s a reblog, and presenting what Word Press has written about reblogs, is now being construed by you as “confrontational” and “snaky”??? You could have humbly accepted your error and apologized or simply said nothing.
I’m sorry you feel that this exchange was a competition of sorts. Evidently, your anger is because you could not change the subject matter to what you wanted. I’m sorry that I’ll need to ban you.
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Lady,
I found a link to a Word Press forum about reblogging. Here’s an excerpt;
https://en.support.wordpress.com/reblogs/
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Lady,
It was a re-blog.
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I arrived here to check out what you have been writing and found my blog. Thanks so much for the reblog. It is an important day. xoxo
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Barbara,
You are most welcomed. Thanks for taking out the time to produce a well-written post.
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“Why MLK means more now than ever”
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“Maya Angelou Poem Abundant Hope In Honor Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
Excerpt:
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