Some thoughts on Todays Glen Beck’s Restoring Rally…
Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck tried to hijack the legacy of Dr Martin Luther King
Below are some of the tweets I shared with folks this morning about Martin Luther King and how his legacy has been allowed be hijacked and distorted with the Glenn Beck ‘Restore Our Honor’ rally that went down today in Washington DC at the Lincoln Memorial. For those who don’t know Beck decided to hold a rally on the same date and place as Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech 47 years ago in 1963.
Beck said he wasn’t trying to be political and it was pure coincidence his rally was on the anniversary of the King speech. In fact he tried to flip it and say the rally was a way for folks to honor the troops. He knew folks would ride for that cause and be less critical if he crossed the lines in other arenas. We says that’s BS. Beck knew what he was doing. He even went out and got King’s conservative niece Aleveda King to be one of the keynotes.
Below are some of the tweets I sent out this morning on the rally and what we should be thinking about.
How does King’s Legacy get distorted & hijacked by a Glenn Beck for the world to see? Ask your self that next time u turn on the radio or TV?
A steady diet of who’s beefing w/ who, who does the Dougie the best & endless conversations about Jay-Z and his possible membership within the illuminati.
Sad as it sounds Beck used his air time to give a distorted & false history of Blacks in America-Meanwhile many our urban outlets and personalities said nothing?
How many of our historians and scholars were invited on any of our outlets to give a corrective history..Better yet who was asked on to speak this week?
How many of our urban outlets used their airwaves this week to let millions of people know who Dr King was and what he meant when he gave the I have a Dream Speech? This week I heard contests for Summer Jam and Rock the Bells ticket giveaways… I didn’t hear one MLK speech.. I didn’t hear one community leader or Black historian who was invited on to these outlets to drop gems and offer guidance so folks could better understand and recognize the cultural hijacking that was taking place.
Dr King's niece Alveda sadly gave Beck and his croonies political cover in distorting her Uncle's legacy. She said she was tired of the Civil Rights Movement
Glenn Beck’s distorting rally complete w/ cheesing Negros in the form of Alveda King (Martin Luther King’s niece ) singing gospel cannot be viewed in isolation. She received a huge applause and unfortunately validated of a disturbing nationwide trend where the History for Black people and other communities of color is literally being white washed. So while Beck is re-writing the legacy of King, the state of Arizona has banned ethnic studies being taught in her universities and the state of Texas has removed everyone from Thurgood Marshall to Cesar Chavez and even the word slavery from high school text books and curriculum.
Earlier that morning Alveda King was shown on CNN saying in a earlier speech that she was ‘tired of the Civil Rights Movement‘..If for any reason, our urban outlets should’ve used those remarks as an opportunity to have public discussion-Where does the Civil Rights movement stand in 2010?…Here are some more tweets I sent out this morning.
A savvy urban outlet would’ve talked about King’s I have a Dream speech and focused on the part where he talked about America’s broken promissory notes and Insufficient funds
A historian would’ve come on the radio and reminded people that in 1963 marchers had to leave by sundown bc the police were outa control & brutal
A historian would’ve reminded folks that MLK spoke out agst wars & put his life at risk to do so-he would’ve told the troops to stop fighting
I hope we keep the lack of history and intelligent convo NOT on our airwaves come Monday morning..If ur a parent u should be upset?
Ask yourself, what did the Funk Flexes, Big Boys e of the world teach us & our kids this week during Black August? Sadly Beck taught more as false as it was..
Beck armed his listeners w/talking pts, & misleading analysis so if they were to debate some one on civil rights issues they would smash on most uninformed urbanites
In the face of Glenn Beck's lofty rhetoric and invoking of Martin Luther King and his no colorlines message, folks still showed up at the Glenn Beck Rally with racial hatred
One of the most disturbing things that Beck did at this rally was imply that King religious and philosophical beliefs would’ve been in synch with the agenda of the military industrial complex. King put his life and definitely the political favors he had obtained by speaking out on the Vietnam War which he found to be unjust. His willingness to speak out was deeply rooted in his religious upbringing which is centered in what is known as the prophetic tradition where one fearlessly speaks truth to power, stands on the side of the oppressed and fights for justice.
In fact it was interesting to hear Beck and his people quote the phrase Injustice anywhere is a threat to injustice everywhere’. King uttered those words when speaking out against the United States being in War. I find it hard to believe Dr King in 2010 would be in support of any of our wars. He might’ve shown love to the troops, but would’ve told them to stand down and not continue fighting. Here are more tweets..
MLK comes from the prophetic tradition of preaching while many white Americans come from the tradition of equating God w/ Country
What Beck did was remove King from the long line of prophetic preaching which is what liberated Black folks & put him in God & Country tradition
That’s how the king was hijacked by Beck and sadly he found a family member Alveda King to validate that move in front of the world..
Keep all this in mind come Monday morning & ur favorite urban jock is feeding u gossip and beef stories ask why no education?
I keep mentioning urban radio bc one of Kings last speeches was to Black radio DJs where he broke down their importance to Civil rights..
The speech was given in Aug 1967 and kings words were actually quite militant as he talked abt the importance of Black pride & black radio
King worked closely w/ Black radio pioneer Jack the Rapper on crafting his message & delivering it to Black people via radio..
The legacy of Black radio being an essential tool in fighting Civil rights has been ignored by todays urban jocks & now hijacked by G Beck
Jack the Rapper is the grandfather of all radio personalities.. Wolfman jack, casey casisim, dick Clark etc.. all got their swag from him
His philosophy was theater of the mind-A Black radio jock can make shit on a stick sound good-hence he can sell his ppl the idea of freedom
Click HERE to Listen to the Full Speech of MLK's NATRA Address
Here’s Martin Luther King‘s speech on the importance of Black Radio to the Civil Rights movement & the importance and meaning of having Black pride. This speech was given in Atlanta in August of 1967 in front of the National Association of TV and Radio Announcers..(NATRA) Here’s the link to this rare but incredible speech http://www.swift.fm/mrdaveyd/song/60425/
The video below contains excerpts from that speech King gave.. Its called MLK vs the Radio