Martin Luther King Jr Assassination

April 4 Commemorations: NATO Formation And Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination

Ronald Leave a comment

Today is an historic day more than just normal.

It is the 73rd anniversary (1949) of the formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), an alliance that began as 12 nations and is now 30 nations, formed in opposition to the Soviet Union, to defend democracy in western Europe, but now also including the former Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe as well.

In this itme of the horrors of the Russia-Ukraine War, NATO is even more important, and may soon be engaged in World War III, if any of the NATO nations are being attacked.

It is also the 54th anniversary of the tragic death by assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968, a loss that has had a dramatic effect on the issue of race and civil rights in America, and more of a crisis yet again in the time of Republican and conservative attacks, including the Supreme Court, on women, immigrants, racial minorities, and the gay, lesbian, and transgender communities.

Social Justice 53 Years After Martin Luther King Jr’s Assassination

Ronald Leave a comment

On this 53rd anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, it is sad that we see systemic racism still alive and popular among too many Americans.

The George Floyd murder trial; the Georgia legislation that puts voting rights under attack; the anti Asian attacks that have become so prevalent in the past year; the increased threat of domestic terrorism; and the continued attack on immigrants of all backgrounds are signs of the failure of social justice to make progress after King gave up his life in the quest for equity and fairness in society.

The Presidency of Donald Trump allowed people who promote racism, nativism, white supremacy, misogyny, antisemitism, Islamophobia to flourish, as Trump was George Wallace on steroids.

When Wallace ran for President in 1968 and won five states, 46 electoral votes, and 13 percent of the popular vote, it was shocking, but at least there was no way that Wallace could win the Presidency.

But a half century later, Donald Trump was able to gather the forces of hatred and win the Presidency, despite losing the popular vote by 2.85 million votes, and would go on to marshal his forces to promote undermining of American democracy, and continues to do so by promoting the lie that he won the Presidential Election of 2020, and inciting the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021!

So the commitment of Martin Luther King Jr. to human rights and social justice must continue with a new generation of committed leaders!