culture of protest: martin walked so barack could run

Posted by rflacks on: Wed 16th Jan, 2013

Martin Luther King's birthday (84th)) is 1/15; the national holiday is Monday and the 2nd inauguration of Barack Obama takes place on that date. It's an important symbolic conjunction and we focused on it on the radio this week. Obama spoke in 2011 at the dedication of the King memorial on the Mall. We'll feature this speech, a rather amazing appreciation of collective protest, of economic as well as social justice, and of the fact that King was reviled in his time. It will be interesting to see whether the inaugural address restates these themes. And of course selections from King's speeches and a sampling of the many songs he inspired.

Here's a link to hear an archived version of the radio program:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/91897409/Obama%20King%20culture%20of%20protest%201.17.13.mp3

Tags: ML King birthday, Obama inaugural, King memorial, King songs

About

Dick Flacks here...sociology professor emeritus at UCSB. Budget cuts mean that I can't continue my annual course on political sociology. Maybe a blog will be a space for me to continue to ruminate and pontificate. And maybe (as a veteran teacher on these matters) I can offer some ways of thinking about what's happening nationally and locally that will be useful, as we struggle to make sense of the tortured complexities of these times. I've been a leftwing activist for more than 50 years. What we've been struggling for all these years is full democracy--to increase the opportunities for people to have real voice in the decisions that affect them. Step by step over these years we've made some gain...but it is a long march, and one that never ends. The big barrier to democracy in our society is the concentrated power of corporations. At the same time, democracy is undermined by the felt powerlessness of people in their daily lives--the persistent belief that our problems are only our own personal concern. It's a strong cultural theme--such individualism--constantlly reinforced by mass media and everyday circumstance. But the current big crisis of the economy maybe makes it more possible for more people to understand that we've got to have social reform and economic reform. So my writing here is aimed at helping us figure out what to think and act on that so that we can hope for new democratic possibilities. WE'll be talking about the local and the national. The blog name comes from an old labor union hymn: Step by step the longest march can be won. Many stones can form an arch...singly none. And by union what we will can be accomplished still. Drops of water turn a mill, singly none, singly none. For 27 years I've had a weekly radio show on KCSB (91.9 fm. www.kcsb.org) It's called the Culture of Protest. It's comes from my fascination with music and social movements. I collect 'political' and 'protest' music and that's what we play each week (Thursdays 6-7 pm). So sometimes here we'll share and talk about that. I'm worried about one thing about the blogosphere. And that's the way that some people use the blog comment space for anonymous nastiness. I'm sick of the kind of political blather that assaults the motives of others, and sees dark conspiracy behind every thing one doesn't like. This kind of stuff is helping to poison the political atmosphere. So I'm going to strive for a civil tone to whatever interaction may happen on this blogsite.