Beaten, Stabbed, Jailed. MLK Wasn’t Killed Until He Spoke Out Against War & Capitalist Greed

On this day Martin Luther King was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on Thursday, April 4, 1968, at the age of 39.

I find it of great interest that this man had been assaulted, beaten, jailed and more during his fight for racial equality but it wasn’t until he became more vocal about economic equality and war profiteering that he was silenced permanently.

So many people are behind him and his speeches when he was talking about his dream but so few know of the man who spoke about capitalism run amok. A man who essentially called this government’s policies when it comes to the wealthy, socialism. It seems like so many conservatives treat that word as a four letter word and yet, according to MLK, it is the elite who’ve benefitted most from social policy in their favor. Hit the video at 3:19 to hear about some of that social policy used in early America.

As we heard in the news over the coming months about Americans speaking up about lifting minimum wage to $15 an hour, keep this in mind: MLK speaking at a union rally “…you are reminding America that it is a crime to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages.”

On a similar note, as I often speak about and spend my time dealing with diversity issues in tech, this speech is also relevant. “The Other America” addresses an issue that I see minimized and explained away far too often and that is the social, income and occupational inequality in this country that is rooted in a long history of systemic oppression against minorities, women, and rural poor Americans. “The struggle for civil rights is to make these two Americas, one America.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. I thank you for not only working to end segregation, but more importantly speaking truth to power when you knew you would lose the support of the government, access to the Whitehouse and ultimately, your life. We often thank our veterans for their service to America and for paying the ultimate price…. on this day, I think you for the same. I thank you Martin Luther King, Jr. and I thank your family for paying the ultimate sacrifice for America. And for your service to this nation.