“In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
The #ReclaimMLK campaign, inaugurated by the founders of Black Lives Matter, aims to remind the world that the slain civil rights leader was far more than the voice behind the famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in Washington in 1963.
Born out of a fear that King’s memory has become a sanitized version of the historical person, the #ReclaimMLK campaign dedicated the five days between King’s birthday (Jan. 15) and today’s federal holiday to acts of civil disobedience in his name.
The #ReclaimMLK campaign, inaugurated by the founders of Black Lives Matter, aims to remind the world that the slain civil rights leader was far more than the voice behind the famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in Washington in 1963.
Born out of a fear that King’s memory has become a sanitized version of the historical person, the #ReclaimMLK campaign dedicated the five days between King’s birthday (Jan. 15) and today’s federal holiday to acts of civil disobedience in his name.
The #ReclaimMLK campaign exists to shatter the white-bred illusions that have, as Selma director Ava DuVernay put it, "reduced [King] to a catchphrase, four words: ‘I have a dream.’"
As you ponder this concept, please consider the words of political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, who eloquently said Live from Death Row, "The system used the main nonviolent themes of Martin Luther King’s life to present a strategy designed to protect its own interests – imagine the most violent nation on earth, the heir of Indian and African genocide, the only nation ever to drop an atomic bomb on a civilian population, the world’s biggest arms dealer, the country that napalmed over 10 million people in Vietnam (to “save” it from communism), the world’s biggest jailer, waving the corpse of King, calling for nonviolence!”As a revolutionary as that may sound, did you know that singer Stevie Wonder played a huge role in getting Martin Luther King Day recognized as a national holiday and wrote the “Happy Birthday” song to popularize the effort.
He also took off three years from his career in order to lead the cause in which he helped organize a rally in Washington on January 15, 1981 (King’s birthday), that was a key event in the movement.
With the crowd chanting, “Martin Luther King Day, we took a holiday,” black leaders and celebrities appeared, and when Wonder spoke, he said:
"As an artist, my purpose is to communicate the message that can better improve the lives of all of us. I’d like to ask all of you just for one moment, if you will, to be silent and just to think and hear in your mind the voice of our Dr Martin Luther King."
A highlight of the rally was Wonder’s performance of the song, and over the next few years, Wonder continued his work to raise awareness of the movement and apply political pressure to get the holiday recognized. Another rally followed the next year, and on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill.
Happy birthday, Dr. King!
