Reclaim MLK Day! Denver Call to Action

Martin Luther King Jr. Day for World Solidarity

“…And I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We are approaching 2008, and nearly 40 years after Dr. King’s death his words still ring true today. On March 20th, 2008 the Iraq war will mark its 5 year anniversary. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children soldiers have died in this imperialist war. As soldiers fight for the latest imperialist adventure; our black, brown and red oppressed brothers and sisters fight to keep shelter over their heads, clothes on their back, food on the table and strive for stability, education and economic self-sufficiency in our communities.

It is important that our black, brown and red oppressed communities unite together to form solidarity in order to build strong communities centered on Dr. King’s work, life and passion. It is time for all of us to stand up together and let our voices be heard loud clear and demand equality among all nations, ethnicities and genders. We should hold up Martin Luther King Jr. as a proponent of this better world, a fighter for it and so his commemoration should not be void of politics.

It is time that we reclaim the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr., a man who is revered around the world as a leader with great conscience.

During his last year of life he underwent a political shift and began to speak on the worldwide problem of the oppressed demanding freedom from a common oppressor. He said in his speech “Beyond Vietnam,” that his country is the “greatest purveyor of violence,” and “There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I and others have been waging in America.”

Yet, here in the U.S. his memory has been co-opted and he is given back to us as a benign figure. In Denver, we are given an insignificant image of the civil rights leader and are made to listen to old rhetoric from politicians that have not answered the communities call for justice for numerous cases of police brutality. We are made to listen to political figures who have instituted a policy of zero tolerance in the oppressed communities, where young men and women of color are profiled, rounded up and suffer through having their civil rights violated, figures who have ignored the thousands of homeless on the streets, have closed down schools and instead have embarked upon building a $600 million dollar jail and “injustice center.”

In order for us to continue forward, it is imperative that we take back our heroes and use their examples to shape our current and future struggles.

The struggle for freedom from oppression and exploitation is an international struggle against a common enemy. This common enemy has maneuvered oppressed people into fighting one another over what we have been convinced are scarce resources. Though there may exist some uniqueness in each of our struggles, whatever differences there are, we have more in common than not.
As the conditions of the society pit us against each other, they have also led us to the conclusion that our struggles are linked. The system that has been put into place to oppress not only us, but poor whites as well, this is what we should unite against. This system has been effective in putting our communities at odds because of the fear of our building a united movement.

Neither history nor the future belongs to a book a leader or a classroom, but to the people. We face a period of history that seems bleak: increased war and suffering; great poverty and lack of resources; but, we also face an historic task.

By taking to the streets, reclaiming MLK Jr. Day and making it relevant to current struggles, we embark upon a new period in our history for true freedom and towards building a movement dedicated to winning a society based on solidarity with other people and on providing for the need of all the people of the planet.

On what would have been the 80th birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. we call for all people to join together for a People’s March and Rally to demand:
• An end to the wars and occupations being waged against Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Columbia, Haiti and all threats of war and wars entered into by rich nations to dominate other nations.
• An end to police brutality and police occupation of our communities.
• An end to the use of indigenous nations as mascots, and an end to the celebration of the colonization of the Americas and the genocide of the original inhabitants of the Americas.
• An end to attacks against immigrant workers.
• Freedom for the 88 people arrested protesting the racist Columbus Day holiday.
• Freedom for the Jena 6 and all political prisoners.
• Justice and the right to return for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
• For the funding of peoples needs, housing, healthcare, food, clothing and education, not wars, jails and prisons.

Join us as we meet every Monday from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at Blackberries Ice Cream and Coffee Lounge (710 East 26th Avenue Denver 80205) and help build and inaugurate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day for World Solidarity.
Also please join us for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day for World Solidarity Forum on Monday January 7th 2008 at Brother Jeff’s Cultural Center Café (2836 Welton Avenue Denver 80205) from 6:00pm-8:30pm; featuring local guest speakers, persons of all ages are encouraged to attend and light refreshments will be provided.
So, every struggle is our struggle, every oppressed person our sister and brother, and we must stand up, fight back and show solidarity. That is what the day must be about.
Written By;
Larry Hales and Maiysha Smith
For more information please contact Larry Hales at hcrazycat@yahoo.com or Maiysha Smith at Canela23303@aol.com