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NEWS ABOUT: Martin Luther King Jr.

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Occupiers March for MLK Day

Protesters also hold rallies against Voter ID laws

(Newser) - Martin Luther King day inspired an Occupy march on New York and more traditional remembrances across the US today. Among the events:
  • Hundreds of Occupiers staged an "Occupy the Dream" march on Manhattan, stopping to chant, "The banks got bailed out, we got sold out." At least
... More »

MLK Would Be Ashamed of Us

Rising income inequality is cementing class system: Paul Krugman

(Newser) - If Martin Luther King were to see today's America, would he be proud? Paul Krugman thinks not. King dreamed his children would "not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Today, we've become "a nation that judges... More »

Quote on MLK Memorial Will Be Fixed

Park Service has 30 days to get it right

(Newser) - A truncated quote etched onto the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in DC that critics say makes King sound like an "arrogant twit" ( Maya Angelou's words ) will be fixed, the Washington Post reports. Interior chief Ken Salazar tells the Post's Rachel Manteuffel (who raised the... More »

Obama: King 'Stirred Our Conscience'

Thousands attend dedication of Martin Luther King Jr Monument

(Newser) - Forty-three years after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by an assassin's bullets, the nation's first black president today led an all-star tribute to the civil rights activist who "stirred our conscience" and made our Union "more perfect." "I know we will overcome,"... More »

Jackie O: MLK a 'Phony'

...and other revelations from a new book of interviews

(Newser) - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was not a fan of Martin Luther King Jr, once describing him as "tricky" and a "phony," after hearing FBI tapes of him with a woman other than his wife in a hotel room. That's just one of the revelations contained in a... More »

Architect: MLK Inscription on Monument Is Staying

It's not wrong, it's just 'succinct,' he says

(Newser) - Those who think the truncated quote attributed to Martin Luther King on his new DC memorial do a disservice to the man are just going to have to deal with it. The chief architect defends the quotation and says he has no plans to tweak it, reports the Washington Post... More »

Angelou: Misleading Quote Makes King Look Like 'Twit'

...and 'arrogant' and an 'egoist,' she complains

(Newser) - Add Maya Angelou to the chorus of voices who are none too pleased with how the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial turned out. There's already been some hullabaloo over the fact that one of the quotes on the wall by the Tidal Basin wasn't actually uttered by King,... More »

We Need Much More Than a Memorial

We need a revolution: Cornel West

(Newser) - The new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall may be a milestone "in the turbulent history of race and democracy in America," but let's not kid ourselves: "King weeps from his grave," writes Cornel West in a New York Times op-ed . Despite... More »

Jesse Jackson Slaps Tea Party at MLK Tribute

Movement a 'new name for an old game'

(Newser) - Jesse Jackson lashed out at the Tea Party at a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial event, comparing its ideology to old states’ rights arguments against integration. The movement “is not new,” he said at the crowded luncheon in Washington. “It's just a new name for an... More »

'Weak' Memorial Makes MLK White

But maybe memorials shouldn't be artistic, Blake Gopnik writes

(Newser) - Take a look at the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial unveiled today, and one thing is immediately obvious: The famous black activist is white. To be precise, he’s more pinkish and “blush-colored,” carved from stone bearing “a striking resemblance to pale, freckled skin,” writes Blake... More »

MLK Memorial Opens

Week of formal galas will precede Sunday's dedication

(Newser) - The official dedication isn’t until Sunday, but the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the National Mall opens today at 11am. The 30-foot-tall sculpture and 450-foot-long quotations-inscribed wall sit between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, the AP notes. A week of white-tie and black-tie events will precede Sunday’s... More »

MLK, Twain Misquotes Go Viral After bin Laden Death

Facebook, Twitter users swap bogus quotes

(Newser) - A seemingly apt Martin Luther King Jr. comment quoted by people responding to the killing of Osama bin Laden quickly went viral via Facebook and Twitter. Just one problem: it wasn't accurate. The quote beginning "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not... More »

White Supremacist Arrested in MLK Parade Bomb Attempt

Suspect allegedly left explosives along route in Spokane

(Newser) - Authorities in Spokane today arrested a 36-year-old man with ties to a white supremacist group in the attempted bombing of the city's MLK parade in January, reports the Spokesman-Review . The suspect is Kevin William Harpham, who served in the Army in 1996 and 1997 and now faces life in prison... More »

Bomb Found On MLK Parade Route

Spokane bomb was capable of causing multiple casualties

(Newser) - A backpack bomb capable of causing multiple casualties was found along the route of Monday's Martin Luther King Day parade in Spokane, the FBI says. City workers discovered the bomb before the parade and it was neutralized by the city's explosives disposal unit. Authorities say the bomb was placed on... More »

Would We Have Labeled King's Rhetoric 'Inflammatory'?

After Tucson shootings, it's a question we need to ask

(Newser) - As America rails against inflammatory rhetoric in the wake of the Tucson shootings, it’s worth asking: Would Martin Luther King Jr. have been silenced in this political environment? “Even King's most memorable speech—the ‘I Have a Dream’ address at the March on Washington—was nothing if... More »

Top 25 Black Leaders: Obama Second Only to MLK

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, he gets top honors

(Newser) - On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it’s fitting to announce that the civil rights leader himself was voted the most influential black American leader. TheGrio asked 25 academics, artists, and activists to rank a list of 170 black leaders, and the website calculated the top 25:
  1. Martin Luther King,
... More »

Young King Inspired by Time in Desegregated Connecticut

That influential summer inspired him to become a minister

(Newser) - A young Martin Luther King Jr. might have gone on to any number of careers, but for one inspiring summer in Connecticut. He was there as a teenager, earning money for college by working on a tobacco farm, and he was shocked by the lack of segregation he found. “... More »

Ernest Withers Informed on Martin Luther King to FBI

Famed civil rights photographer a spy

(Newser) - Ernest Withers, the famed “original civil rights photographer” and close confidant of Martin Luther King, was secretly a paid FBI informant, cluing the government in on all the Civil Rights Movement’s activities, according to a two-year investigation from the Memphis Commercial Appeal . Withers tailed King for the feds... More »

Doh! Oval Office Rug Gets Quote's Author Wrong

It's attributed to MLK, but he borrowed the words

(Newser) - The new rug in President Obama's Oval Office includes famous quotations, including this from Martin Luther King Jr.: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." The only problem, reports the Washington Post , is that King borrowed the words (and made no secret... More »

Beck: America Returning to God

Thousands attend his rally in Washington

(Newser) - Some highlights from the Glenn Beck rally, as rounded up by the Times , Post , Politico , and AP :
  • Beck: "For too long, this country has wandered in darkness. ... We have had moments of brilliance and moments of darkness. But this country has spent far too long worried about scars and
... More »

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