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SEQUENCE:18967523
CREATED:20190220T235900Z
DESCRIPTION:The weekly sessions will take place on Saturdays. The next one is on 
 February 23rd until March 9th (possibly longer) at the Resource Center for 
 Nonviolence 12:30pm-2:00pm. Come and learn about the true MLK!\nFor more 
 event information:\nhttps://www.facebook.com/events/820425021628659/\n\nDr. 
 Martin Luther King Jr. was a radical visionary. The FBI and US government 
 called him “the most dangerous man in America”. He challenged the power 
 structure, criticized policies and was unapologetic when it came to 
 acknowledging injustice. He was a democratic socialist who sided with the 
 poor, working-class people of the world. He was a warrior for peace on the 
 domestic and global battlefield. He was critical of the military industrial 
 complex and spoke out against the war in Vietnam when it was unpopular and 
 dangerous to do so. At one point he claimed that the United States of 
 America was (and some could argue still is) the “greatest purveyor of 
 violence in the world”. We never hear about this King, the radical King. 
 \n\nYear after year; Instead of celebrating the true message of King, a 
 message of resistance and liberation, events have been crafted to ignore 
 and in some ways dismiss the oppression that appears all around us. The 
 oppression, centuries old, that impacts the poor and people of color in the 
 United States as well as around the world. Over generations, the legacy of 
 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has become sanitized and white-washed, co-opted 
 by the power structure and leaders who are more interested in exposure and 
 PR than they are about actually committing themselves to King’s legacy. 
 Regardless of their intention, an attempt to change the conversation from 
 one of critical and radical resistance to one of community service and the 
 rhetoric that we are all “equal” does us all a disservice and, in my 
 opinion, is an insult to King’s memory. \n\nLocally in Santa Cruz poverty 
 is still a rampant plague. Inequitable levels of income and access to 
 quality housing have forced children, the elderly and those with mental 
 health needs out onto the streets in the dead of winter to fend for 
 themselves. Our policies, like locking bathrooms and fencing parks, force 
 people into situations that are unhealthy, spiritually draining and 
 dehumanizing. We criminalize poverty as we actively exacerbate it with weak 
 regulations on rent and evictions. Santa Cruz County has one of the highest 
 rates of poverty in the State of California. Black (or African American) 
 people only make up 1% of the City of Santa Cruz. Our Native American 
 population is even smaller and currently resisting their lands being 
 destroyed. We celebrate the Missions and omit the reality of the violence 
 that took place. Is this what Dr. King would have celebrated? Would Dr. 
 King have locked arms with his oppressors and walked in a parade with no 
 set plan of action or end goal in sight? I say NO. Or, would he have stood 
 firm and demanded justice before there was the option of reconciliation? I 
 say YES. \n\nOn the day dedicated to his memory I believe he would be 
 actively challenging the structure of oppression, not walking symbolically 
 in a narrative devoid of impact. What liberation will be achieved for 
 people of color and the poor, working-class people of our community? What 
 will change? What will be accomplished besides providing a sense of 
 complacency in the same people who fought against rent control, who fight 
 against the protection of the poor, who don’t want homeless in their 
 neighborhoods and for the SCPD who refuse to march without their weapons 
 and who represent, to many, a symbol of oppression? If you are interested 
 in learning more about the radical MLK, please join us for a book-group 
 where we will read, analyze and discuss “The Radical King” by Cornel 
 West. \n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/02/20/18821306.php
SUMMARY:"The Radical King" by Cornel West - Book Group
LOCATION:Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/02/20/18821306.php
DTSTART:20190223T203000Z
DTEND:20190223T220000Z
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