January 18, 2021

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY- MORE THAN EVER, A DAY TO REMEMBER!!

I became a political activist in a school that nobody in their right mind would ever consider as a potential springboard for political activism. My college, St. John’s of Annapolis, was a long enduring academic experiment that featured four years of focusing on the classics of literature, philosophy, science, mathematics and languages. It was probably the only place in the world that; you had to memorize propositions of Apollonius and Ptolemy. We had 300 students whose campus was across the street from the Naval Academy. When the Cadets marched by, they would sing, “Look sharp, every time you shave.” Lunchtime was bursting with people quoting Kant or Aristotle.

Nonetheless, at the time, in the early sixties, Annapolis was still segregated. The truth is, when I went there, I had no idea that Maryland and its state Capital was practicing this level of discrimination. When I grew up, my father was an attorney and my mother was a social worker who always believed in civil rights. I myself kept a folder on segregation when I was in sixth grade and I literally hated segregation. But, ensconced in Long Island, my activism was theoretical. Little did I realize, in my Freshman year, t he same year that Kennedy was shot, there would be an uprising in Annapolis, the Capital of Maryland, lobbying for the Maryland Public Accommodations Act. The Act was developed to assure that black people couldn’t be refused service in restaurants or hotel/motels. On the same day, public protests were going on, I knew nothing about them- until as I began to walk downtown, I found myself in the middle of a march.

As the march proceeded, I found out what it was all about. But I also found out that there was an event taking place in Barnes’ Drugstore (which had a coffee counter and some food tables, as I recall). It was sit-in that began when a young black man, Clarence Mitchell, III, was asked to leave when he ordered a cup of coffee. Little did they know that Clarence was the youngest black legislator in the United States, who had been elected to the Maryland House of Delegates; his father was a leading civil rights lobbyist in Washington, D.C., who had helped push forward the 1964 Civil Rights Act; his mother, Juanita, was a lawyer and the head of the NAACP in Maryland and his brother, Michael, led the NAACP youth organization in Maryland. Still not knowing much about the circumstances, I made my way to Barnes.

I don’t know, as I mingled with the protestors, who were basically connected to the NAACP, I guess I found a sense of purpose, of comradery that I definitely did not find in college or back home on Long Island. We were there for a few hours, I guess, earning the antipathy of the workers and owners of the drugstore. Two of the protestors were kind of rowdy. They were Wobblies (members of Industrial Workers of the World), a much older labor rights group.

After some time, the NAACP which was overseeing the March in Annapolis told us that we had to leave. They didn’t want the sit-in to overshadow the main purpose of the NAACP’s presence, to promote the passing of the Maryland Accomodations Act. But although we were about to leave, the Barnes Establishment was out for revenge and as we walked to the door, they physically through us out on the Street. As we lay or sat on the sidewalk, we began to sing protest songs as Annapolis police drove up and arrested us for “disturbing the peace” and took us off to jail.

There, in jail, the same cell with Clarence Mitchell’s brother, Michael, continuing to sing protest songs, I continued my adventure in the 1960s civil rights movement. I think at that very moment, joining in with my brothers and sisters in the other cells, I felt that special something- that alignment with righteousness and brotherhood- that drew me into the movement.

This led to a trial where I and 15 others were defended by Mrs. Mitchell and my father, who came down from Long Island, to join her in our defense. The Wobblies got some kind of sentence. Michael and I got “probation without verdict.” The rest got off because the police failed to identify them. There was a police brutality hearing later on in which Juanita Mitchell did an awesome presentation of the absurd police brutality that followed the sit-in.

The Mitchells went on to great success in the Civil Rights movement and their role in government, although they were not without serious challenges later in their life. My father went on to defend civil rights workers in the Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee’s (SNCC) Mississippi Summer Project. He went on to doing much pro-bono work. The year he retired, he participating in four trials involving defendents who were victims of police brutality.

This was my personal awakening to the act of public protest. It was an experience that few people have in regards to the events of today. It is hard to explain the feeling of standing up your own and other people’s rights. I continued this work in different ways but have always remembered that sensibility of power and righteousness that spawned great breakthroughs in the law and enforcement practices of the time.

What can we learn from the era of Martin Luther King?

Much of what I personally saw in Maryland was connected with the NAACP. This was always a powerful civil rights organization to which Martin Lu;ther King was attached in the beginning of his career and as he led the highly successful Southern Christian Leadership Coalition.

But what of today? Are we facing the same challenges?

No. In my opinion, not the same. Indeec, we are facing much greater apocalyptic challenges brought by a relatively small cabal of players with an agenda that is as dark as it is deceptive. Right now, there is a relatively small amount of protest, often led by persons with the same intelligence and commitment as some of our earlier civil rights leaders, but without a large co-ordinated following and a plan.

What is the difference between the atmosphere of the 1950s and 1960s civil rights movements- when so many victories were won- and now???

I believe that for one thing, it is the target of discriminatory law and law enforcement. A lot of the 50s-60s era was focused on very clear actions against black people (and other minorities to an extent), where there was a very clear body of racist laws. The target today is different, almost everyone in the United States.

The second thing is that the target (again, almost everyone) does not believe it is the target. The Afro-American and other minorities knew full well they were being discriminated against. After a time, the propaganda against their equality was blatant and obvious- and became the voice of the enemy. Most of the victims today believe the actions against them are really for their own good.

Do we need a civil rights movement now?

If ever protests were needed, I would say now- because millions of people are about to lose their incomes through wages or small businesses, lose their access to medical insurance and be evicted from their homes are apartments. Still, if people think all this is perhaps based on some fundamental distortions in reality, they are certainly not going to act. What is it going to take before they wake up and start questioning what is being blared out at them from every corner of government and media?

As I posted yesterday in LinkedIn:

MILLIONS OF JOBS ARE GONE, MORE THAN 50% OF OUR SMALL BUSINESSES ARE GONE, WE WALK AROUND WITH MASKS, STANDING SIX FEET OR MORE AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, WE LOCK OURSELVES IN OUR HOUSES AND WAIT FOR OFTEN CONTESTED VACCINES CREATED TO SAVE US AT WARP SPEED FROM THE STATISTICALLY IMPROBABLE STATISTICS THREATENING OUR LIVES… AND. STILL MOST OF US REFUSE TO SERIOUSLY QUESTION THE REASONS BEHIND THESE CRIES FOR US TO STAGNATE, WAITING UNTIL HELICOPTER MONEY DROPS MAGICALLY FROM THE SKIES. MEANWHILE CENTRAL BANKS PRINT TRILLIONS TO SHRINK THE VALUE OF OUR CURRENCY TO VIRTUAL WORTHLESSNESS. SOME OF US SAY- BUT TIME IS ON OUR SIDE.

MARTIN LUTHER KING BEGGED TO DIFFER:

And that is why we have chosen to put Martin Luther King, Jr. on our banner. He knew when there was an injustice to worry about and he knew, when there was, he knew it was his- and our job to do something.

Since we are living in a few days before the inauguration and a few days after the Capitol was attacked, I should mention Martin Luther King’s opinions of the kind of mob action at the Capitol and, in fact, the mob action that happened after his assassination- and, of course, when he gave this interview with Mike Wallace in 1966.

So, when we talk about protests, we are talking about something entirely different than the attack on the Capitol, something which must be prevented at all costs. Despite all our problems with the government, a weaponized attack aiming at and succeeding in occupying one of our most important buildings on a day that Congress was counting electoral votes to elect a President- is totally unacceptable. It is not the kind of action worth emulating or anything that Martin Luther King, Jr. would wish to emulate.

Just a few more comments on these actions because the event brings two immediate questions to mind. The first is- what were they going to do if they succeeded? The second is- how could they possibly succeed in the first place?

While it was preceding, I noticed politicians and mainstream commentators talking about a potential coup? A coup generally means a take-over of government. The people who walked the corridors of the Capitol building and occupied various offices hardly seemed capable or even interested in taking over the government. They seemed interest in taking over a building to block an important vote- but did they really think they could do more than that?

Some commentators had said that this event was partially an inside job, just an excuse to give a public justification for strengthening police protection against protest. And there has been an FBI claim that during the inauguration there would be armed protests in capitol buildings in all 50 states. If that is true, then it would seem that people who are willing to arm themselves and attack in this way are just courting more police violence? The only people who this really hurts would be those who plan to have peaceful protests, which would need be a careful, well-thought out process to succeed..

And, yes, peaceful protests are one of the means. But civil disobedience to unjust laws is also part of a protest moment. Not just marches or rallies in the street.

THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT

It is said that the Montgomery Bus Boycott as insignificant in comparison
to the powerful protests later that led to the end of segregation. But, in
fact, it was this tiny spark that lit the entire civil rights movement. Here is Martin Luther King describing his experience and his strategy.

Here is a bit more comprehensive look at the movement and power of the boycott..

Civil disobedience was an enduring tool of the Civil Rights Movement. Here is a powerful description on the role that government that played in the fate of the Freedom Riders campaign to fight segregation:

It is ironic that one of the biggest issues we have now that has led to many protests throughout the year is vaccine safety. Now we have the actual proliferations of vaccinations as a policy of government, with huge questions by alternative media about its safety and its connection to the regulations, quarantine and lockdowns which have put a stranglehold on the United States economy. One of the leading voices against current vaccine policies is the son of the very attorney general who provided protection for Martin Luther King and a large attendance of supporters who believed in the mission of the Freedom Fighters. At the time, as discussed in the video above, the church they were was surrounded by a violent opposition. Kennedy sent the national guard in to protect King and his people.

Now, Robert Kennedy, Jr. is a voice of opposition to the nature of the current vaccinations and their imposition on the American people. Ironically, he was slated at one point to head the Trump Administration’s approach to vaccination. Trump had long been a skeptic of vaccinations but, for some reason, chose to go into an entirely opposite direction and chose advisors like Gates and Fauci to open the doors to “Warp Speed” vaccinations.

Here is a recent interview with Dr. Carrie Madej, an osteopathic doctor, medical director and researcher, who has challenged the endgame of all of this, including what she regards as the highly dangerous technology of the vaccines.

There have been many protests about mandatory vaccinations and other protests (throughout the world) about the lockdowns, the use of masks and social distancing, the validity of quarantines- but the people of America most often do not take this seriously and believe the voices of authority, even when they contradict themselves.

We have given a great deal of attention to all of these claims by scientists, medical doctors and researchers and investigative reporters who have probed the financial conflicts, the outright lies and deception of much of media and the potential lethal and dangerous effects of many of these processes that are supposed to protect us.

For things to work with protests, it just cannot be one person performing an act of disobedience. Still, there is one person who provided the impetus for the Birmingham Bus Boycott. If that spark provided the basis for the boycott and inspired many ensuring successes in civil disobedience, it was Rosa who lit the spark.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was not just concerned about the fate of black people in regards to legal discrimination. He was also concerned about other issues. Right now, a tremendous number of people are being kicked out of their living quarters.

Back in the day- after many victories with the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King turned his efforts at fixing poverty. Here is what he said:

But now, in an unbelievable way, the problem of homelessness, of joblessness, of bankruptcy, hunger and disease- does not just focus on minorities and the traditionally poor- but faces the bulk of the population of the United States. But, even though the problem is universal, with the poor and middle class immediate talents, do we do anything? Do we even bother to look at the reality of the lockdown- and its powerful effect on our lives? Do we question it- or do we blindly let a specific narrative hypnotize us into not only inaction of political or social protest- but the inaction of never checking into the “emergency” that brought about the problem. We gave never been in a situation where the problems we have allowed to fester with minorities are now festering with the bulk of our country.

Our financial well-being is going to be challenged in the biggest ways it ever has- globally, intentionally with the largest wealth transfers ever conceived- resulting with the top 1% gaining it all. Greg Mannarino has issued his warnings over an over again. As he points out all kinds of economic data is manipulated- joblessness, manufacturing, consumer debt, the general economic well-being of the United States. And in the midst of all of this, even the value of safe haven investments- like precious metals are being pulled down by the government. We are being globally pulled into hyperinflation as the Fed proliferates the dollar to Central Banks around the world, printing trillions and trillions of dollars as the dollar we use to buy food, clothing, medicine, rent, etc. begins to shrink enormously in value, eventually pointed to hyperinflation and what will probably be, for the bulk of us, a toxic global reset.

Is there nothing that can be done? Not if the American people remain compliant in their investigation of the grave dangers facing our Nation through the immobilization of the American people while the Central Banks pursue policies that shrink the value of the dollar. Massive joblessness, the loss of the bulk of our small businesses and the refusal of the government to provide timely help to the citizens who their policies have compromised- should weigh heavily on all our minds.

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