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Posting up excerpts of acceptance speeches for the Nobel Peace Prize by both President Obama and Martin Luther King. The natural thing is to make comparisons and perhaps demand that Obama be more King-like especially as he is sending 30 thousand more troops to Afghanistan…
I think its good to see both speeches to see how each man reflects upon what they perceive as their constituents. King talks about the 22 million Black folks who are under seige in this country. Obama talks about a country ‘under seige’ by terrorism.
What stood out for me was hearing how Obama while referencing King, did not reference the people King stood for… He also seemed to make the case that Kings approach toward non-violence is impractical. He cited Hitler’s march to war as an example.
That too me is a direct challenge for us as activists to change the dynamics and make any President or other recipient see us as constituents. As it stands now, President Obama came to Oslo, picked up his award, made a brief speech and skipped all the traditional festivities. Why? Because he was concerned about taking a victory lap while his numbers are down and critics are on his heels making demands…
Here’s the the speech in its entirety