Sunday, January 14, 2024
Your Celebratory Quote
- From Coretta Scott King's book, "My Life with Martin Luther King Jr."
Theme of the Week
Closing the social equity gap through Art, Activism, and Advocacy (AAA).
This newsletter is about #EquityinAction:
•Closing the gap for ourselves (wage, wealth, income gap)
•Helping close the gap for others
•Removing unconscious bias – raising our collective awareness about when our behavior widens the gap versus when we are closing the gap
With this week’s theme, we wanted to focus on practical AAA work that we could apply to our lives and careers. We hope you find some morsels for your practice of inclusion—whether big or small.
FEATURED
Long live the legacy of Coretta Scott King
Americans love a revenge arc in a movie (there is a new Jason Statham movie coming out after all and don’t tell anyone, but I will see it). The American love of revenge is fun to watch at the movies yet worrying in the real world. Revenge seems to justify everything from our punitive and inequitable criminal justice system to our punishing reciprocity-based foreign policy.
The King Legacy was Built by Coretta Scott King
That is why, for us, the King legacy truly stands out—it runs counter to the American norm and offers a stark alternative nonviolent path that breaks from violent American norms. I can’t even imagine the pain and suffering Coretta Scott King experienced upon losing Dr. Martin Luther King to gun violence, but Coretta did not turn to revenge. She turned to building a legacy for the nonviolent movement she and her husband helped found and lead. And just like her children, Coretta helped raise the movement from its infancy to maturity, founding the The King Center. The King Center is now run by her formidable daughter, Dr. Bernice King. The center positions Coretta Scott King’s legacy best calling her, “The Architect of The King Legacy.” I don’t want to belabor the history as the King Center gives an excellent historical account of Mrs. King but I will say that my favorite fact is that Coretta advocated for the King holiday for 15 years from 1968 to 1983. Her advocacy was so effective that Ronald Reagan had to sign the King holiday into law even over his spurious objections.
Kingian Nonviolence is a Living Philosophy
I covered the King Center event “Beloved Community Global Summit” last week. Both Day 1 and Day 2 are now available on YouTube.
I walked away with some great tips. First, the theme was “It Starts with Me” which says a lot about the center’s belief in the relevance of movement philosophies to today.
“It starts with me, this is not a black holiday, this is a humanitarian holiday.”
-Dr. Bernice A. King at the Beloved Community Summit
Second, Kingian nonviolence is for the big and small. Nonviolence can guide not only how we engage between nations but between family and colleagues.
“Therefore, I venture to suggest to all of you and all who hear and may eventually read these words, that the philosophy and strategy of nonviolence become immediately a subject for study and for serious experimentation in every field of human conflict, by no means excluding the relations between nations. It is, after all, nation-states which make war, which have produced the weapons which threaten the survival of mankind, and which are both genocidal and suicidal in character.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel Lecture delivered on December 11, 1964, in Oslo, Norway.
We could apply this right now. Need we say more?
Lastly, if you’re interested in studying or practicing Kingian nonviolence as an individual orwithin your sphere of influence, the resources available at the King Center are unmatched. There are lots of opportunities to study and learn and the center has been educating, training, and preparing learners since its opening in 1968 having one of the first nonviolent institutes.
King Had Other Dreams
Rev. Dr. William Barber gave a King day speech at Abyssinian Baptist Church in which Dr. Barber said, “We love personal piety in this society. Like all he [Dr. King] ever said was I have a dream.” Dr. Barber goes onto say that there were over 1,000 words before the I have a Dream portion of the speech but the corporate powers that held marketing funds decided that the dream part of the speech could create a palatable version of King for the powers that be but as Dr. Barber notes, this is not accurate. We sharing with you the full audio and transcription of the two speeches Dr. Barber cited in his sermon if you want to study Kingian philosophy on this King day.
“Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence,” Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City
Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech in its entirety (NPR)
"Where do we go from here, chaos or community?," June 1967
A Holiday that is a Living Call to Humanitarianism
So on this holiday, I’ve been reminded that Kingian nonviolence did not die with Dr. Martin Luther King or Coretta Scott King. It very much lives through The King Center and our study, practice and application of Kingian nonviolence.
Long live the legacy of Coretta Scott King, The Architect of the King Legacy, and Dr. Martin Luther King, leader of an historic movement.
ARTICLES
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Strategies to Fight Islamophobia
Combating both Islamophobia and antisemitism has become a top priority around the world. Abdulrahman M. Bindamnan wrote a great piece in the Star Tribune in the wake of the shooting death of Islamic Imam Hassan Sharif in Newark, New Jersey on developing more effective strategies to combat Islamophobia.
If you're interested in the organizing around combating Islamophobia, check out the CAIR Florida website. They have some great materials on combating Islamophobia.
And if you’re silly like us, there is a comic strip by Shahzib Ali called “20 Comics Captures Misadventures of Muslim-American Women” and it fights Islamophobia with humor.
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Protecting Immigrant Rights
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), the National Immigration Litigation Alliance (NILA), and the American Immigration Council brought a case against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (known as ICE) trying to stop systemic discrimination against asylum seekers. Asylum seekers were being held for months in prison while seeking judgement on their asylum cases. This settlement dictates that these asylum seekers must be released to their families and communities while proceedings take place.
If you volunteer, have friends or family with loved ones caught up in the asylum process, make sure you talk about this information. Also, we’d love to hear from you at info@perspectives.media.
In the movie world, Julio Torres will soon release a project with A24 rooted in the American immigration system called Problemista.
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Bad Event Turned Opportunity for Disability Equity
Rev. Dr. William Barber, Yale Professor, and former head of the North Carolina NAACP was kicked out of a North Carolina movie theater on the day after Christmas while taking his 90-year-old mother to see The Color Purple movie. The theater refused to accommodate the chair he uses for his Ankylosing Spondylitis arthritic disability. You can see the initial press conference posted by WRAL here.
Dr. Barber turned this sad event into an opportunity for systemic change within AMC Theater. He met with the CEO and gave a follow-up press conference here, posted by WRAL. We’ll be following this story.
If you’re interested in getting involved with issues of equity related to differently abled groups, follow Maria Town of The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). Remember, especially if you work in human resources or have managerial responsibilities, this may be a great way to take on equity at work.
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Dr. Kimberly Crenshaw Intersectionality Matters! Podcast
In 2020, Dr. Kimberly Crenshaw joined the board of the Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival is back this week and if able, you should attend Dr. Crenshaw’s panel, “The Story of Us – Surviving The War On Woke: Black Storytelling in the Age of Backlash.”
If you’re not lucky enough to be in the room, Dr. Crenshaw covered last years panel in her latest podcast, “Who gets to be a hero in the story of America?” The podcast panel features W. Kumau Bell, Roger Ross Williams, Holly Cook Macarro, and Jason Stanley.
We also have to mention that the #SayHerName campaign which advocates for Black women killed by police or state violence has a new book and panel featured on C-Span.
SHOUT OUTS
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Artists Calling for Equity – Actresses in Hollywood
Have you ever called for social equity in a room full of your for-profit corporate colleagues and bosses? Black women, and other women of color, are truly leading the way in Hollywood with bold calls for equitable business practices in Hollywood.
Tiraji P. Henson was interviewed by Gayle King on Sirius XM, in which she stated she thought about quitting acting because, “Every time I break another glass ceiling, when it is time to renegotiate, I’m at the bottom again.”
Angela Bassett received an honorary Oscar where she talked about the issue of inequity.
Lily Gladstone became the first Native Woman to win an Oscar and this write-up by Marlow Stern of Rolling Stone is a fantastic introduction.
Ava Duvernay is taking a stand for equity by raising the money to invest in her own projects so that the project can stay true to its vision. Check out Dana Feldman’s article on Forbes to learn about her work.
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Equity Conferences and Events
National Day of Racial Healing
The W.K. Kellogg foundation advocated for a day of racial healing on the day after the King holiday—January 16, 2024. You can get involved through virtual events at dayofracialhealing.org or live in-person events.
Finally, January 17 – 21st, Creating Change conference from the National LGBTQ Task Force will be happening in New Orleans. It will be headlined by names like Big Freedia, Raquel Willis, and Jason Rodriguez.
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Help Craft the Newsletter
If you have stories that you think we should highlight in the newsletter, we would love to hear from you. Our inbox is info@perspectives.media.
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