WEBVTT - 012123 The Conservative Rebranding of Dr. MLK Jr. 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.800 Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host, 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:05.760 Ramsy's job. He is h I am q Ward. You 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:09.880 are tuned into Civic Cipher, Yes, and we got a 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:12.680 lot for you to stick around for. We had an 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:19.319 interesting Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior holiday, and we 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:27.440 realized that a lot of people really don't know the 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:31.479 man that we, to be fair, had to had to 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:38.120 come to know and study, and this version of him 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:47.800 that has been whitewashed and romanticized is in some ways 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:50.440 a far cry from the actual man that lived. This 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:55.920 guy was prolific, and you know, he's almost it's almost 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:58.840 like he's reduced every holiday to just his I have 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:01.040 a dream speech and a couple the choice quotes that 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.200 really they've kind of put him in a category with 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.760 Santa Claus right right, and that's not really fair. So 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:09.039 we're going to take some time and really flesh out 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.640 a little bit more of Doctor King what he stood for. 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:13.959 And we're going to do that a little later in 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:17.000 the show by reading his letter from a Birmingham Jail, 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:21.319 which is a really profound letter. We can't read it all, 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:23.360 but certainly want to share some parts of it with you. 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:25.760 And give you a little bit more depth on the 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:29.600 man that was Doctor King and all that he stood for. Also, 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:33.160 we're going to take some time and point out the 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:42.680 hypocrisy found most prominently in the GOP in this country 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:47.520 when it comes to Doctor King's holiday, where again they 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:51.360 take little bits and pieces of his life and kind 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:53.440 of throw a quote up here and there for cloud, 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:56.720 But they in no way stand for anything that Doctor 0:01:56.800 --> 0:01:58.520 King stood for. So it's up to us to point 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:00.920 that out and to teach what we know. But first 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:02.800 and foremost, we're gonna start off on a high, as 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:06.320 we do, with some ebony excellence. Q Shall we we shall? 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.160 This week's any Excellence sponsored by Hip Hop Weekly Media 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:12.760 and brought to you or this The source material rather 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:16.120 is NPR dot Org. Shout out to NPR. I'm always 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:20.280 gonna love those guys. Anyway, we are going to pay 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:25.680 particular attention to Black Panther Wakanda Forever. This is our 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:30.240 example of ebony excellence this week because the movie not 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.280 only did it do well in the box office, but 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:37.600 it's done well critically and it actually earned twelve NAACP 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:43.840 Image Awards nominations. With The Woman King and Abbot Elementary, 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:52.079 also earning top nominations. But the sequel, which is where 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:56.680 the Marvel film delved into the concept of Wakanda's grief 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:58.880 in the wake of the death of T'Challa, a character 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:02.080 played by Chad with Boseman who died in twenty twenty, 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:09.720 went on to create so much of a cultural impact 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:13.800 and so much of a cultural moment, obviously bringing stars 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:20.400 like Angela Bassett to the forefront as well as you know, 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:22.600 many other people that worked on the film like behind 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:25.240 the scenes. And then of course we can't say enough 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:30.000 about the director, Ryan Coopler. But the fact is is 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:34.680 that you know, in all all the nominees have conveyed 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.440 a wide range of authentic stories and diverse experiences that 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:41.720 have resonated with many in the black community. And this 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:44.400 comes from Derek Johnson, the President and CEO of the NAACP, 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:48.720 and he says, we're proud to recognize their outstanding achievements 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:52.680 and performances, but you know, leading the way, of course, 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:58.920 Wakanda Forever Black Panther with twelve NAACP Image Awards is 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:02.200 just a remarkable fee and definitely have any excellence. Now 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.760 hopefully they get a bunch of wins. That's what we're hoping. Now. 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:15.720 How did you spend your m okay holiday? Q? At work? Yeah, well, 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:19.080 I happen to know that you didn't just work, unfortunately, 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:20.400 you did have to work. I get that, but we 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:24.520 also had to work in this space as we do 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.080 and kind of share a little bit more stories and 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:28.960 give a little bit more insight. And I don't think 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:31.279 we can call what we did after work work not 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.240 this time, well it was. It was kind of in 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:36.560 the same spirit as work, but that was a little 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:38.680 bit more fun. Admittedly, we got a chance to sit 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:41.520 down and interview with a good friend of ours, but 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:45.479 we definitely did fellowship in the name of doctor King 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:51.240 and for that reason on that day. But also one 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:52.719 of the things that we did, you know, with the 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:54.919 time off, you know whatever, you get a chance to 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:57.280 kind of check in with social media, you get a 0:04:57.360 --> 0:04:59.719 chance to tap in with people you haven't heard from 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:01.719 an while. And of course, you know, with Q and 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:06.480 I working in this space, you know, folks think of us, 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:08.680 you know, being in the space where we're trying to 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:13.880 kind of create a more equitable world along racial lines, 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.359 and you know, for some of our friends and people 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:19.760 that were connected with we're top of mind, and so 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:23.000 things get sent our way. I want to take a 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:27.159 moment and shout out and instagram handle live Love, Sorry, 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:31.599 Live Love, Liberate. She's a good friend of mine and 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:34.520 a good friend of the show, and she managed to 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:45.360 compile a bunch of stuff that really illustrates the delusion 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:52.560 that has found its way in recent years to right 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:59.640 wing social media platforms, certainly right wing political platforms, and 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:07.720 in no way represent the reality of what doctor King 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:12.680 stood for. And it feels a little bit insulting that 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:19.360 they would take Doctor King's words stand on them, at 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:22.359 least in a digital space, saying that this was a 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:25.280 great man and these things that he said were so profound, 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:28.360 and we're glad that the country has reached this level, 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:31.240 and so forth and so on, and then the other 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:34.799 three hundred and sixty four days of the year actively 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:39.920 work against what not only what he would wrote in 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:43.120 his letters and has given his sermons, but even in 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.720 the I have a dream speech which is in and 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:51.040 of itself picked apart and used oftentimes out of context 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:55.080 by these folks. And it's up to us to kind 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:59.360 of set the record straight, you know, the hypocrisy we do. 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.840 I thank you hypocrisy. We point out a lot of 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:07.960 hypocrisy and in all you know, political arenas, but not 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:12.600 enough can be said about the extreme hypocrisy that we 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:19.000 find in you know, conservative circles. It's it's the strangest thing. 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:23.240 It's they're so it's like it's like watching crazy people, 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:27.480 but there's so many crazy people sharing the delusion that 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:31.360 you can't convince them that they're crazy. Right, But I 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:36.880 will read to you exactly what made its way to us, 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:40.240 and we'll discuss and you can see, you know, and 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:43.040 decide for yourself if in fact this is crazy, this 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:49.360 is a delusion. So let's start one of the things. 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:51.840 And this was just a meme that was sent along 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:56.360 that I thought was kind of important, uh, for us, 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:59.560 you know, getting into this subject matter right now. The 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.520 meme was a child holding a poster and the poster says, 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.640 stop using MLK as an example of a peaceful protest. 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:11.360 You shot him too, I was heavy, right, Yeah? Right? 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:14.280 Is this there's nothing you can do that's good enough? Right? 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:17.800 And and we're gonna get a little bit more into 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:21.400 that when we get into the letter from a Birmingham 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:25.480 ham jail for our way Black history factor. But yeah, 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:28.400 you know, doctor King was certainly one of those people 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:33.360 that had to push back against folks you know of 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:38.600 the cloth, you know, ministers and pastors and preachers pushing 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.240 back on him, telling him that he should not protest 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:47.200 in a non violent way. Right. And bear in mind 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:51.600 that his approval rating again was twenty percent when he 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:55.000 was alive. Twenty percent. Now everybody looks back and go 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.960 doctor King, you know, but when he was alive, eighty 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:02.680 percent of the people disapproved of him, his methods, what 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:05.440 he stood for, his face, whatever. You know, people just 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:09.360 didn't like him. And that's something that this country loves 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:13.200 to forget. I don't forget that, all right. First up, 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:20.040 Rand Paul. Okay, so Rand Paul is, you know, again 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:26.920 a conservative politician. Rand Paul quoting doctor King on anything 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:33.360 is laughable. Isn't that crazy? So here's a a It 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.520 looks like a tweet from Rand Paul. It says, as 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:40.960 we honor MLK today, may his courage inspire us to 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:45.280 redouble our commitment to working together for change. Let's commemorate 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:48.840 the life of doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. By uniting 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:52.920 the two Americas into one. In America that includes just 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:55.880 dot dot dot. Okay, so this is, you know, the 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:58.320 tweet as you get the idea, to get the gist 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:03.079 of it. And then in the screencap that was sent 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:06.320 to me, there's an article and the headline says how 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.960 Ran Paul blocked the Immit till Anti lynching bill while 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:17.280 the nation more on George Floyd. So this man talking 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.800 about commemorating the life of doctor King, uniting the two 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:25.640 Americas and so forth and so on. It feels like, 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:30.040 you know, what it takes to unite the two Americas 0:10:30.120 --> 0:10:34.000 is to recognize that the two Americas have different views, 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:37.320 have different concerns, and different realities. Right, this is something 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:42.440 that I'm sure every politician can understand. But when you 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:47.560 fail to account for one of those facets, one of 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:55.640 those elements, halps, it seems less like I want to 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:57.800 work together and more like I want to seize more 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:01.680 power and subject you to my reality. Who in the 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:03.760 world and I need you to be okay with that? Right? 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:07.200 Thank you? Who in the world would block the Immit 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:12.800 till Anti lynching bill while the nation was mourning George Floyd? 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:14.760 I mean, we don't even need the second part. Who 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:19.680 would block an anti lynching bill period. And see it's 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:23.160 it's these things that feel so hurtful, and it's like 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:28.280 everybody's just ignores this and keeps voting for these guys. 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:33.240 And that's I don't go ahead. I think you are 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:35.680 providing too much grace. 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:38.360 Yeah, go ahead, because I do not think that all 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:42.280 the people that this men are ignoring that them that's 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:43.280 why they're voting. 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.720 For sure, I'll give you that. But so if that 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:51.960 is true, then why pull a quote and post it 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:53.520 on your social media, ran Paul? 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:57.320 Because even racist, bigoted, despicable people don't want you to 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:00.440 think that of them. Crazy racist people don't even like 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:04.920 being called racist while doing racist things. 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.600 Hey, when you're right, you're right man. But you know 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:14.600 the craziest part about this is that it feels like 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:23.319 there's like, to a person like me, why would you 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:27.360 quote doctor King? Why why not quote you know, Roberty Lee, 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:29.920 you know, or one of your like real heroes, you know, 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:34.360 people that would also be opposed to the imit till 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:38.520 anti lynching bill. Right, since this, you know, your voting 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:41.720 record shows me where your values are. Why not, you know, 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:45.000 quote a person like that? Why even celebrate doctor King's Day? 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:47.920 And it feels like they want to get some of 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.319 that Doctor King clout. Now that they've whitewashed the legacy, 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:53.920 they want to cash in on it. Right, So I 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:56.680 think that what you're saying is absolutely right, just adding 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:00.480 a couple of layers are a little bit more seasoning 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:02.320 to it. But yeah, man, this is this is the 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:06.959 strangest thing. I've never seen anything like it. All right, 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:13.320 let's go on, Ron DeSantis, there's another name. He's the 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:18.959 guy from is that governor indeed Florida Governor rond de Santis. 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:24.600 So suffice it to say, he just you know, copied 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:27.800 a you know, a meme or screen, you know, a 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:30.640 photo of doctor King standing next to a cutout of 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:34.560 his I have a dream speech right, the text right, 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:38.160 and then above the photo he put happy MLK Day 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:42.520 with an exclamation point, and that, you know, the cutout 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:44.280 is the you know, I have a dream that one 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:51.040 day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and every mountain, shell, 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:57.080 et cetera. Blah blah blah. Right, And the person that 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:02.079 grabbed this entire scream, grab and send it over to me, 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:11.720 responded to Ronda Santis, saying, pretty close to that horrible crt, 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:15.640 like that that's that's Black history right there. You sure 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:17.319 that's what you want to do. And for those that 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:22.040 don't know, this guy, Rondasantis has been perhaps the biggest 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:26.440 and most vocal opponent of CRT or in fact, American history, 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:33.600 teaching American history in schools right based off of nothing, 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.360 based off of some imaginary boogeyman, kids are going to 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:39.680 be sad and not you know, love the country and 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:43.760 feel bad about themselves or whatever, which in my estimation 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:49.240 is complete and utter nonsense. It feels very unfair, and 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:57.000 it feels like another whitewashing of history, and it's dangerous. 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:02.560 But it's particularly hurtful when this person, who does not 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:04.640 want us as a country to look back, certainly doesn't 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:10.480 want our children to look back, will readily pool from 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:16.320 black history when it keeps him slightly i mean, in 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:19.640 terms of the optics, looking slightly less racist than he 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:25.640 absolutely is, absolutely is right. And again, these are things 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:27.680 that you need to know. Not everybody that you know 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:33.720 quotes the Bible, is you know, going to heaven? You know, 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:36.760 I'm sure there's some sort of even a believer. Sure 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.160 there's some sort of anecdote that I've heard growing up. 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:43.480 I come from a Christian tradition in my house, and 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:45.800 so there are these little things that we passed around 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.120 back and forth. But you know, the same seems to 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:52.120 be true here with the in the political arena with 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:57.600 respect to doctor King. Here's a funny one. The actual 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:02.880 at GOP social media handle, which is I'm assuming the 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:06.160 handle for the entirety of the political party known as 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:10.800 Republicans in this country. They're just they just put a 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.120 post that says happy Martin Luther King Day. And this 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:17.360 is just sort of funny because the person also responded 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:21.400 with a clip clippy the clip art and it says, hi, 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:24.400 it looks like you're quoting doctor Martin Luther King Junior 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:27.800 to try to hide the fact that you give comfort 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:31.320 to racist Would you like some help logging out forever? 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:36.080 That's awesome? Yeah, man, it's crazy, but you know that 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.640 one doesn't have as much you know, teeth in it 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.320 in it from a journalistic standpoint, but it's just sort 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:45.960 of something that's a little bit funny. Let's go to 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:52.680 Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz has has a post that and 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.000 we know we realized this was from last weekend, but 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:57.920 we had to talk about this because if we don't 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:07.440 point out this these hypocrisies, then you may associate these 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:14.320 backwards political leaders on the right with an actual American 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:20.199 hero who probably would be more left than everybody that 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.200 even I know, and I'm way over there on the 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:29.520 left man, But you know, Ted Cruz, he put a 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:31.439 post that says, today we honor the life and legacy 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:33.800 of doctor Martin Luther King Junior. Pretty standard. And then 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:36.240 there's like a photo of doctor King, you know, everything 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:43.040 like that. And then there's a picture of him interrogating 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:46.000 or interviewing whatever you want to call it, Judge Katanji 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:52.879 Brown Jackson, and he's holding up the children's book. You 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:55.680 remember that scene on the floor of the children's book 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:59.120 was like basically an educational book for children about race 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:07.200 and so forth. And so again, doctor King was certainly 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:10.560 about educating, certainly about together in his fellowship. So forth, 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:14.880 we need to understand each other, we need to support 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:17.520 each other, help each other. And then Ted Cruz, almost 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:23.679 everything that he's done in this space has been If 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:27.440 doctor King were still alive, Ted Cruz would, based on 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:30.320 his track record, would stand in opposition to almost everything 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:35.200 Doctor King stood everything, And so again, just pulling a 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:38.760 little bit of political. They reworked the image of Doctor 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:42.760 King because he wasn't Malcolm X. It reworked him, made 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:45.800 him a little bit more, you know, a friendly like 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:48.840 you said, made him into basically Santa Claus, and then 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:54.359 took him for themselves. And it feels like, wait, you know, 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:56.439 and we've seen this happen with music we're rock and 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:58.399 roll with, you know, We've seen it happen time and 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:01.920 again with all bits and of our culture. It's taken 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:04.320 from us, it's whitewashed and repackaged, you know, for a 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:07.720 white audience. But to see this happen with Doctor King, 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:11.399 someone who in many ways is a moral guidepost for 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.600 not just black people, but for this entire country, to 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:18.240 have his legacy and his story be co opted, his 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:21.800 words be co opted and used in these circles where 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:24.320 the source of the hatred that we're dealing with, the 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:27.199 source of the conflicts. I mean, we can't figure this 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:29.240 gun stuff out. We can't figure none of this stuff out. 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:32.480 And often enough, it's those people on that side of 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:34.879 the aisle that are standing in the way, and as 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:39.280 you mentioned, very intentionally out loud, not hiding it. They 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:42.040 wide open and then all of a sudden, Doctor King's 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:45.560 Holiday comes around and everybody's like, oh yeah, Kumbaya, and 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:47.720 then the day after they get right back to it. 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:50.680 All right, let me let me continue. Here's another name, 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:55.600 you know. Mitch McConnell, uh says, today we honor an 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:58.119 American hero, the Reverend doctor Martin Luther King Junior. His 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:01.560 dream of equal justice and the abundant opportunity inspired our 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.760 nation to make historic progress and continue to make us 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:10.840 better to this day. And this quote was superimposed this 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:15.480 quote that he This tweet rather for Mitch McConnell is packaged, 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.000 as it was sent to me, was packaged with a 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:21.920 photo of Mitch McConnell receiving an award standing in front 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:27.720 of a gigantic Confederate flag, and he's old as dirt, 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:30.680 so these basically the same age as he is now. 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:37.160 So clearly this person wants the image of Doctor King. 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:42.159 But Doctor King was really about, you know, togetherness, and 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:44.480 Mitch McConnell just uses words, but you know, standing in 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:46.359 front of that flag, you'd be hard and pressed to 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:47.720 make a case that that's what you're really on. 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:50.960 It's like they've gone out of their way to make 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:59.040 Doctor King benign Yeah, toothless soft, a word that you 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:04.920 often used to remind people that you aren't. So they 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:08.080 want him to be perceived that way. So it's not 0:21:08.200 --> 0:21:17.240 just whitewashing but making him harmless. Right, in many ways, 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:22.200 it can't be perceived that he was at one point 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:25.080 opposed to and by the government. 0:21:25.600 --> 0:21:26.320 Yeah right. 0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:30.080 So now that his reproval rating is one hundred and 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:35.080 the most romanticized parts of the dream sweech, because I 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:37.000 have a dream speech in and of itself, it's not 0:21:37.040 --> 0:21:41.040 even all kumbaya, but patch that way very intentionally to 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:43.439 take out this really really sweet, really really warm part, 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:46.960 make it very very hallmark, make him very very animated, 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:51.199 make him very very much a character. Right, And like 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:56.240 I said, of a nine harmless, toothless, warm, soft character 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:01.120 when he was at his core, the opposite of all 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:07.280 of that, and more selflessly for us probably than anyone. Ever, 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:12.560 how about that, like his his his rap sheet with 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:20.359 regards to the causes that helped us, long and impenetrable, 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:27.520 that that part of his legacy cannot be tarnished or 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:32.359 questioned for real willing to sacrifice at all as he 0:22:32.560 --> 0:22:37.280 ultimately did for all of us and not just skinfolk. 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:40.760 Yeah, yeah, and this is another thing that we need 0:22:40.800 --> 0:22:44.800 to share with you. You know, for those who don't know, 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:47.920 when doctor King was assassinated, it was because he had 0:22:47.960 --> 0:22:54.000 gone to Tennessee to work with poor people. You know, 0:22:54.119 --> 0:22:56.959 he was trying to get you know, workers rights, labor rights, 0:22:57.000 --> 0:23:00.000 you know, fair compensation, et cetera. Issues that were still 0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:02.880 dealing with in this country today. Issues that you know, 0:23:03.160 --> 0:23:07.119 the Republican Party would stand opposed to, as they have 0:23:07.600 --> 0:23:14.879 done for the past couple of years. And you know, 0:23:14.960 --> 0:23:17.760 once he turned that corner, you know, once it wasn't 0:23:17.800 --> 0:23:20.320 about hey, can we use the same bathroom or drink 0:23:20.320 --> 0:23:21.919 from the same water fountain or sit at the same 0:23:22.000 --> 0:23:24.360 lunch counter. Once it was like once it was like, hey, 0:23:24.400 --> 0:23:27.520 you're coming after you know, our war, coming after you know, 0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:32.560 our money, or you know, creating cohesion between poor people 0:23:32.760 --> 0:23:36.879 and poor whites and poor blacks. You know, then it 0:23:36.920 --> 0:23:39.400 became okay, well, this is this guy has got too 0:23:39.440 --> 0:23:43.520 much power. Once his approval ratings started to tick upward 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:48.480 because he's now reaching into new communities and identifying commonalities, 0:23:49.240 --> 0:23:53.680 then it becomes more problematic. So you know, this list 0:23:53.760 --> 0:23:57.480 goes on Lauren Bobert and whoever else the rest of 0:23:57.520 --> 0:24:00.800 these people are more of the same. The details, but 0:24:00.840 --> 0:24:03.720 I do want to leave you with this. Here's a 0:24:03.720 --> 0:24:08.520 tweet from Bernice King, which is doctor King's daughter. She says, 0:24:08.600 --> 0:24:12.520 if you're going to quote and authentically honor my father 0:24:12.680 --> 0:24:17.240 on MLK Day, commit to embracing a world house perspective, 0:24:18.320 --> 0:24:23.280 determine how you'll disrupt unjust systems and thinking with non 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:27.240 violent strategy, which that was doctor King. That was what 0:24:27.280 --> 0:24:30.920 he was about, nonviolence, and that's what they took. They 0:24:31.280 --> 0:24:36.199 preferred him to Stokelye and to you know, uh uh 0:24:36.840 --> 0:24:40.840 Malcolm Malcolm and James Baldwin everyone else. Doctor King was 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:47.159 a minister and you know, anyway, I'll continue support policies 0:24:47.160 --> 0:24:51.399 that reflect higher consciousness and make no excuses for hate. 0:24:51.920 --> 0:24:54.280 So this comes directly from his daughter. This is what 0:24:54.840 --> 0:24:58.320 you need to do on doctor King's birthday, and unfortunately 0:24:58.320 --> 0:25:01.520 we have not seen that from our conservative branch.