Never forget that freedom is not something that is voluntarily given by the oppressor. It is something that must be demanded by the oppressed. Freedom is not some lavish dish that the power structure and the white forces in policy-making positions will voluntarily hand out on a silver platter while the Negro merely furnishes the appetite. If we are going to get equality, if we are going to get adequate wages, we are going to have to struggle for it.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speech in support of striking Memphis sanitation workers
That's a great quote.
ReplyDeleteI worry about the effectiveness of civil disobedience today. We're so used to seeing protest now.
Activist Derrick Jensen has written that in order for civil disobedience to work, you need to have a situation where either a) those in power have a conscience, or b) the masses will be shocked and speak up if those in power run a tank over you.
I hope one of those two things are still true for us.
People have to adapt their strategy and tactics to the actual political situation. The point of the quotation is that, as unjust as it is, liberation will happen only through the resistance of the oppressed, not the generosity of the oppressors.
ReplyDeleteNo one got obtained freedom from a tyranny without blood lose! MLK did so (for the most part) because over 50% of the people agreed with his goal....over the next 4yrs lets hope over 50% do not follow the orange trumpkin!!!
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