I remember some story about Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader, flashing across my computer a week or so ago. I can’t remember what it was about. Omar fired somebody for not following orders. My question is why is this guy in charge of anything besides a prison cell? Why isn’t he pushing up daisies? Somebody help me understand.
Martin Luther King Day is tomorrow, January 21, 2008.
If your town or city has a parade, you should consider going to the parade.
It is always instructive to watch a rebroadcast or listen to a recording of the I Have A Dream speech. (Editors note: I have a Meet the Press interview Roy Wilkins (NAACP president) and Martin Luther King. This is a great interview. A piece of history!! You can find the 3 parts - here, part 2 and part 3)
Yet there is a next level for someone who wants to better understand Dr. King. It wasn’t all “I Have A Dream” and brotherhood.
Reverend King asked serious questions about America as a war criminal nation in Vietnam and he asked if America merited divine judgement as a wicked nation of racism and social inequality.
Here is an admittedly incomplete, but still useful, Martin Luther King viewing, visiting, listening, and reading list.
An excellent book is Martin & Malcolm & America—A Dream Or A Nightmare by James H. Cone. This book follows the words and the careers of both these men. The premise, which holds up, is that Dr. King and Malcolm X (photo below) were not as far apart as sometimes portrayed. Malcolm was a man with a broader vision than one of simple racial solidarity, and King was in many respects a fierce and almost apocalyptic critic of America. [Read more →]
I’m back home. A trip that should have taken 4 - 5 hours took over 18 hours. Welcome to plane travel in America.
Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, fulltime sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
