Dr. King Panel Discussion

Today I was on the MLK Panel for the Maine Humanities Council and NAACP conference at USM. It was held in a university lecture hall, so as I walked onto the stage mentally kicking myself for my wardrobe selection (why did I choose today to wear my jean jacket of all things?), my confusion about the panel itself (the topic I was told it was going to be, actually wasn't the topic in question), or just the intimidating fact that not only was I the youngest, the only woman, the only one without a grad degree, and of all things--wearing a jean jacket. Wow.

The panel was actually fun, much to my surprise! And the crowd was incredibly insightful and responsive to our commentary. And, yes finally we can start talking about King's contribution as part of a network of social movements that have happened, currently occurring, or will occur.

Here's part of my contribution I gave for the panel... I changed some parts so it's not the complete thing:

It’s true that we typically don’t hear the two words “struggle” and “movement” on Martin Luther King Day. I’d also offer another word that we don’t hear: organize. For the last six years I’ve been in Maine, I’ve spent it organizing for affordable housing, racial justice, higher education, labor, and health care, with some of the most talented and creative student groups and organizations.

Truthfully, I don’t know if I could be doing the kind of work I’m doing today if I didn’t learn from Dr. King that the conditions of one’s oppression could be changed and that organizing can be a powerful tool to bringing about that change.

I like to think that King’s legacy is still important and extremely relevant even for young people today. However, as an organizer and someone who is fascinated with social movements, my concern about his relevancy asks what aspects of King’s legacy get acknowledged. Much of his work achieved real wins to ensure African Americans could live their lives in dignity and respect, with equal rights that were guaranteed under the law and enforced. But his legacy and meaning is more than just the “I Have A Dream Speech”. What I think is the most relevant of King’s legacy is that the struggle for any kind of equality, any kind of justice is interconnected. What strikes me about King was his last days, he was in Memphis to support the majority Black garbage workers who were on strike because they had horrible working conditions and unfair wages for what was considered a dangerous occupation.

King’s relevancy right now to young people depends on how we utilize his legacy of collective action in a contemporary context. Right now, we are still facing many of the same battles that were fought four, almost five decades ago, in the areas of institutional racism, gender equity, even how to build and maintain sustainable coalitions across race, gender, and class to promote broad systemic change. It’s become easy amongst those who are marginalized to play into the “Oppression Olympics”, which we can even see played out in the presidential debates right now: between gender and race; which subjugated identity is more oppressed? It does nothing to change the conditions of those who suffer, only to promote more divisiveness amongst groups whose oppression stems from the same source.

Lastly, I want to say that what makes King’s legacy relevant to young people today, is how they take that history, the lessons of the Civil Rights Movement, and how it can be used as a tool for real community change. When I was learning about the Civil Rights Movement and heard about the incredible work of Dr. King… I was thinking: who is going to be the next Dr. King for our generation? It’s important to have heroes and leaders, only so much that those leaders are able to inspire or teach us how to be lead in our own right. Because often times, we often think we should be waiting for that special, charismatic someone who will lead us the fight against one injustice or another. So many people are taking action in our community, everyday heroes who are living King’s legacy, yet who don’t get recognized.