jamuny 1987 - page 5

The Meaning of Martin Luther King’s Birthday

by 'GWCn Shervington
I am convinced that if we are to get
on the right side of the world revolution,
we as a nation must undergo a radical
revolution of values. We must rapidly
begin the shift from a ‘thing oriented‘
society to a ‘person—oriented‘ society. When
machines and c'omputers, profit motives and
property rights are considered more
important than people, the giant triplets of
racism, materialism and militarism are
incapable of being conquered.
from Dr. King's "Beyond Vietnam"
speech April 4, 1967

Martin Luther King Jr. was born
January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Early in the evening of April 4, 1968. a
rifle bullet ended his life in Memphis,
Tennessee. Because he lived and dreamed
and died many factories, offices, schools,
all federal and some state agencies will be
closed. This is a national holiday with
national implications. This is not a
holiday for rest, frivolity and play. This
is a day for re-affirmation and
commitment to the principles of social
justice and positive social change. In the
50's and 60's racism and racial
discrimination were the most important
crises facing America. In a nation that
proclaimed liberty and justice for all, too
many Black Americans were living with
neither. The more blatant forms of racism
have disappeared, but the subtle forms still
exist: '

FAMILIES BELOW THE POVERTY

LEVEL 1984
White - 16.1%
Black - 41.4%

Female Headed Ilouseholds - 41.9%

ANNOUNCEMENT

STATEWIDE LESBIAN/GAY
COALITION MEETING PLANNED

DATE: February 1st, 1987

PLACE: South Royalton House

AGENDA

10:30-12:00 Separate Meeting

12:00-1:00 Lunch Break

1:00-2:00 Workshops

2:00-2:15 Break

2:15-3:30 Joint Meeting

3:30-4:30 Movie (TBA)

The workshops will be "Legislative
Process" by Heather Wishik and "Grassroots
Organizing" by Louise Brill and Jim Morgan.
The meetings Co-Facilitators will be Susan
(234-9589) and Keith (454-8552).

MEDIAN INCOME 1984

White - $27,686

Black - $15,432

Other Races - $18,833
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 1985
Representatives:

Male-412

Female-22

Black-20

Senators:
Male-98
Female-2
Black-0

Bigotry still mars America. The
Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is a day
not only to remember the man but to
rededicate ourselves to acquiring a deep
understanding of the nature of racism in
the U.S. and the ways in which racism and
other anti-humane values impact negatively
on our society and the world. Racism,
sexism, homophobia, classism, ageism and
all the other "isms" that work to punish
and degrade those who are not WIIITE,
WEALTHY, HETEROSEXUAL and MALE
come‘ from the same arena. Those who
perpetuate racism also perpetuate
homophobia. Racism and homophobia both
support the premise that being different
from "the norm" is a mortal sin.

The Right Wing which today openly
preaches its brand of intolerance, racism
and national chauvinism opposed Dr. King's
quest for freedom and equality. While Dr.
King and others were marching, working
and dying to assure fuller acceptance of
and participation by all US. citizens in the
affairs of the nation, many of the leaders
of today's religious Right Wing
organizations were condemning and
accusing him of being under the influence
of the Communists. Jerry Falwell publicly
made this accusation on March 21, I965.

Known mostly for his Civil Rights
work and for the fact that he won the
Nobel Peace Prize, King was, first and
foremost, a Christian minister and
preferred to be known as such. Ile was
firmly rooted in the Black Church. Unlike
many other church leaders, Dr. King stuck
to the church doctrines of universal love
and non-judgement. He was very critical
of the Church‘s hypocrisy:

"Any religion that professes to be
concerned with the souls of men and is not
concerned with the slums that damn them,
the economic conditions that strangle them,

Peace 8' Justice Center

186 College SJ;
7 (1 flight up)
Burlington 865-8326
Peace On
Earth-Store

 

Third World Gifts!
N on-profit

Regular Hours M-F 10 am - 6 pm
Saturday Hours 1 pm - 5 pm

and the social conditions that cripple them
is a spirittially moribund religion in need
of new blood.“

Dr. King and the nonviolent movement
gave freedom :1 new birth in America.
They banished the Jim Crow signs,
browned American politics, and
transformed the student and women's
movement (and to some degrees the
Church). He brought together people of all
races, classes and backgrounds to work
towards a common goal. Let us continue
this work. Let us make the connections.
As people of color, as lesbian and gay
people, as poor people, as women, as old
people, we are all oppressed. Let us come
together to fight our common oppressor not
to establish a color-blind society, but to
build a society that recognized all
differences, all colors, all lifestyles, all
preferences. Dr. King believed:

"When oppressed people willingly accept
their oppression, they only serve to give
their oppressors convenient justification for
their acts... Oppressed people cannot remain
oppressed forever, the yearning for freedom
eventually manifests itself. Freedom is
never given voluntarily by the oppressor, it
must be demanded by the opprcssed.... To
accept passively an unjust system is to
cooperate with that system."

Twenty years later we have still not
overcome, so we keep on keeping on, we
keep on fighting, we keep on organizing,
we keep on speaking and COMING ()U'l'!!l!!!

Books by Dr. King:

Stride Toward
Montgomery Story.

Why We Can't Wait.

The Measure Of A Man.

Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos
or Community?

Strength To Love.

The Trumpet Of Conscience. (transcript
of a series of CBC radio broadcasts)

Freedom: The

Planning Meeting for 1987
L/G Pride Celebration

After the lesbian/gay bashing that took
place during the recent ERA campaign, we
members of the Lesbian and Gay
Community need to redouble our efforts to
maintain our visibility. People must be
reminded that we are an integral part of the
community and we are not going to
disappear simply because "they" do not want
to deal with us.

In that spirit, we urge all of you who
have enjoyed some of the activities of the
four previous Lesbian/Gay Pride celebrations
to contribute some of your talents and
imagination.

The small group who worked on last
year's celebration are not going to shoulder
the whole load this year. It is vital that
more of us become involved. .

A meeting will take place on January
15th at 7:30 P.M. at the Peace and Justice
Center, 186 College St., Burlington. Bring
your ideas and your friends. Without you it
will not happen.

,. J