Category Archives: History-Martin Luther King

MLK Washington Memorial Road Block

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“Before we can start construction, we must actually move West Basin Road to make room for the Memorial. This is a major project that costs $4 Million. The Foundation is challenging supporters of the Memorial to raise $250,000 of that online, and has set an urgent deadline of raising the first $50,000 during the month of May.(Last day then to raise $15k+).

“In order to achieve our goal of raising $50,000 in May, I am challenging you to donate $250 or more towards the construction of the Memorial. By giving $250 or more, you’ll move us closer to being able to “Move the Road” in order to Build the Dream.” Online donations here.

PS: Interesting to see that in the choice of quotations to be engraved into the memorial that it includes one on the war in Viet Nam.

What did I learn from MLK work?

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Yesterday, as I wrote, I was like the guy who did the Zodiac case, also involved in a case to a much, much, much lesser degree – the MLK case.

A few things I learned from that creative process – a lot is kinda ‘social complexity’ based :

1. Difference between integration and co-existence.
2. If someone comes up to you in the ghetto and says don’t worry we’ll protect you then its right to start worrying. If someone else says hey, you’ve got to protect yourself, then they’re right.
3. Er. See above.

Cardiac fact on MLK on 39th anniversary of his death

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“According to biographer Taylor Branch, King’s autopsy revealed that though he was only 39 years old, he had the heart of a 60-year-old-man, evidencing the stress the 13 years in the civil rights movement had on him. It implies that in the 13 years prior to his death, he had aged 34 years or 2 1/2 times as much as a person living a normal life.” (Taken from Wikipedia).

The History (4) Boys

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Diane caught up with Leicester radical historian Ned Newitt the other day and bemoaned the fact that I wasn’t ‘doing history’ any more. OK, that’s partly just another common mum type theme about sons not doing what their mothers want. But I confess since ‘Uni’ (1987) I haven’t entirely been quiet. After all I did help the 30th anniversary campaign (1998) with Dr Coby Smith to re-try the real killers of Dr Martin Luther King, re-writing history in the process. But that’s mothers for you. Never happy.

PS: Looking forward to unveiling of the MLK scuplture in Washington DC next year, April 2008, also a US election year I believe? I’m sure these connections are not lost on Rev Al Sharpton, from what he was saying about the lasting legacy of slavery on the Daily Show. Funny thing is how going to Brazil I found out more slaves went there than the US; maybe that’s why Snoop did his video from there? The connections are there to be discovered, that’s history. (Funny, didn’t I hear earlier this month that the study of slavery is going to be part of the National Curriculum in the UK, as part of the study of the British Empire?).

Dreamgirls

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Didn’t make it to Nick’s birthday but made it to Dreamgirls. Liked the film’s joke at Martin Luther King, ‘an amateur on the front of a record sleeve’. Plus, recalled that Eddie Murphy had once pissed off James Brown by satirising him, now in the role akin to Brown (extract from wikipedia):

“One of Eddie Murphy‘s well-known characters during his tenure on Saturday Night Live was his good natured caricature of Brown during the James Brown Hot Tub Party sketch. In this sketch, Murphy as Brown danced while wearing a towel in typical James Brown fashion in front of a backing band, singing about his attempt to get into a scalding hot tub of water. Murphy also referenced Brown in his standup comedy film, Delirious, mocking Brown’s energy and style of conversing with the band during a song. However, Brown got revenge; his song “Living in America” included the line “Eddie Murphy, eat your heart out!” – ostensibly in retaliation to Murphy’s jokes.”

Though come to think of it there was more than a touch of the character from Red Dwarf in Murphy’s personification..

Oona King – again..

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God, why do I have to keep seeing former East End MP Oona King on the TV? You may ask why am I so irritated. And to be frank it’s just plain dumb ego. I’d suggested way back in 1997 or 1998 I think it was to documentary producer Dev Varma (after spotting his name when I was working at Mental Health Media) that we get her to do a piece on the legacy of Dr Martin Luther King to the UK. And we got her interested. And we go the BBC interested. And an independent company Dev showed it to decided to sit on it. And that was it. My glamorous career in TV gone! And then just to rub it in what a fun idea it woudl have been Oona King backed the Iraq war, and then got turfed out iof her seat by George Galloway. And now she’s back on TV membling about the after life, and being an atheist. And Dev goes on to direct Lara Croft – Lethal And Loaded [2001] with Angelina Jolie! What’s going on in this shaggy dog story?!

Turning the MLK Memorial Dream into Reality

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Well after a pretty uneventful day I came back home and opened my emails and find the groundbreaking ceremony for the MLK National Memorial is tomorrow, 13 December.

Nice to see that GE and FedEx chipped in some cash recently to help it on its way. Not everyone know this, but FedEx are headquarted in Memphis, so that makes sense.

Plan’s still on for 2008 unveiling btw, marking the 40th anniversary of Dr King’s death.

What would you most love to see?

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In Wednesday’s FT Mike Lynch, the chief exective of Autonomy, tells Joia Shillingford he’sd most love to see “a machine that lets everyone view the same situation or information from a common perspective”. I respected his idolising of his Texas Instruments TI 58 earlier in the piece, but that other mechanical suggestion didn’t appeal in its cute  idealism. Why? OK, get in my time machine and come with me back to Memphis, to 1998, when I hooked up with civil rights activist Cobey Smith for the 30th anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King’s death. He explained a key concept to me which I has remained with me since (I suspect nearly as long now as Mr Lynch’s TI..) – the key difference between ‘integration’ and ‘co-existence’.

What in effect Mr Lynch is talking about is the all pervasive notion of consensus based on some kind of integration, whether technological in his idealised example, or cultural as often is the intent when politicians talk about it. But integration is always integration on some else’s terms, based on the powerfully deep assumption that deep down we are ‘all the same’. Co-existence is based on the idea and practice that we are not fundamentally ‘the same’, but ‘equal and different’. This of course sounds a matter of polite semantics to 90% of highly educated people in this world, but in fact its both pretty useful and important. Cause if you approach people in terms of ‘different and equal’ (while acccepting they also superficially behave according to and believe in their ‘sameness’ (all men are the same, as the commonly accepted saying goes) it has implications for how you design systems. Good implications.

Chinese sculpture to do Dr Martin Luther King

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To my surprise now I find, a Chinese sculpture artist Lei Yikin has just been chosen for the memorial sculpture:

$40 million for the 40th anniversary

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In a few months time the plan is that work will start on a memorial to Dr Martin Luther King Jr in Washington DC, due to be completed by 2008 for the 40th anniversary of King’s death. The Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project will cost $100 million and to date just over