Martin Luther King Day

by John Sickels on Jan 16, 2026 1:20 PM EST

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Glad to see thank MLK is still being honored for what he did

We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go

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by Rochestie4ever on Jan 16, 2026 1:27 PM EST reply actions

"The arc of the moral universe of long, but it bends towards justice"

My favourite MLK line, and perhaps my favourite quote period.

by MjwW on Jan 16, 2026 2:24 PM EST reply actions

I love MLK

Personally I would like to see the US honour other African American leaders such as Malcolm X and recognize their contributions to the civil rights movement.

Big Sexy

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by King Billy Royal on Jan 16, 2026 2:32 PM EST reply actions

20 kids in my grade of 200+ know who Malcom X is....

by MilesC on Jan 16, 2026 9:48 PM EST up reply actions

That is actually scary

His biography should be mandatory reading in schools.

Big Sexy

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by King Billy Royal on Jan 16, 2026 10:28 PM EST up reply actions

The sad part is before Malcolm X was killed, he and MLK were starting to become much more similar in thought and action. Had both survived, or had MX survived just a few years more, it is astounding what they could have accomplished together.

by cookiedabookie on Jan 17, 2026 9:49 AM EST up reply actions

In what way?

by ttnorm on Jan 17, 2026 11:10 AM EST up reply actions

Big difference

Dr. King, like Gandhi, sought to bring about justice and change though peaceful though provocotive ways. He did not seek to punish the oppressor but rather to turn his heart through the courage of his resistance.

X on the other hand sought to bring about justice “by any means necessary”.

by ttnorm on Jan 17, 2026 11:20 AM EST up reply actions

true although didn't X change his mind about that later in his life?

by John Sickels on Jan 17, 2026 11:26 AM EST up reply actions

I am not expert on X

so feel free to correct me. But even after he left the Nation of Islam, the closest he came to acknowledging Dr. King’s work was: “I want Dr. King to know that I didn’t come to Selma to make his job difficult. I really did come thinking I could make it easier. If the white people realize what the alternative is, perhaps they will be more willing to hear Dr.King.”

Very different tactics.

by ttnorm on Jan 17, 2026 11:53 AM EST up reply actions

Well I don't see how X's Selma statement was a threat

X was making a valid observation.

by John Sickels on Jan 17, 2026 5:25 PM EST up reply actions

Don't see how it wasn't a threat

If Dr. King represented Gandhi’s nonviolence, what was the alternative?

by ttnorm on Jan 17, 2026 5:31 PM EST up reply actions

X was making a point

That the white community in the United States still had a window of opportunity for peaceful change, and that if they did not take that opportunity but continued to oppress people, violent change would/could eventually happen.

That does not mean he was, at that point in his life, ENDORSING violent change. In fact he decided that peaceful change was the way to go. BUT he was exactly right that if things had not been done peacefully, that eventually change would come anyway, on violent terms.

Personally, I’m about one step short of being a pacifist, and I think he was right with his observation.

by John Sickels on Jan 17, 2026 5:47 PM EST up reply actions

The summer of 1964

saw race riots of unprecendented scale. I don’t see his point.

by ttnorm on Jan 17, 2026 7:10 PM EST up reply actions

1964

You can’t understand the race riots of 1964 without looking at the context of 100+ years of political disenfranchisement, state-sponsored terrorism, and murder against the African American population.

There were race riots way before 1964, usually white mobs murdering blacks.

by John Sickels on Jan 17, 2026 10:31 PM EST up reply actions

Not arguing that point

I am just saying it seems that X condoned violence in a way that MLK would have abhored. I will yield the last word to you on this. Thanks for the discussion and the video at the top.

by ttnorm on Jan 17, 2026 10:37 PM EST up reply actions

DId you ever consider without having Malcolm X, the white leaders would have ignored MLK?

Big Sexy

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by King Billy Royal on Jan 18, 2026 4:25 PM EST up reply actions

One can observe that something could happen without wanting it to

by John Sickels on Jan 17, 2026 5:48 PM EST up reply actions

Still sounds like a threat

to remind white America that a lack of change would bring about violence especially given his past.

I would like to be wrong about X. Can you show me where he worked against the widespread violence of the Watts riots, the Harlem riots, the Rodchester riots, and all the rest? It was my impression that at best X condoned the violence and used it as a card to force change.

by ttnorm on Jan 17, 2026 7:21 PM EST up reply actions

Um, Rochester

by ttnorm on Jan 17, 2026 7:22 PM EST up reply actions

Exactly

This is why people should have to read his book. His whole thought process changed over time.

Big Sexy

Follow KBR and Dewey on Twitter! @KBRandDewey

by King Billy Royal on Jan 17, 2026 5:09 PM EST up reply actions

There is this rumor going around that MLK...

would roll up all the windows and lock them and fart in the car with the heat up while his family suffered… and he would laugh.- Sarah Silverman

But seriously he is one of the greats.

Ride the tiger...You can see his stripes but you know he's clean.

by James Westfall on Jan 16, 2026 3:30 PM EST reply actions

Modern Day Prophet

King: Montgomery to Memphis is for me the definitive King DVD.

by ttnorm on Jan 16, 2026 5:01 PM EST reply actions

Man, I wish I could have seen that man speak in person

What a speaker he was, wow.

"I’d love to walk in and hug everybody every day, but that’s not critical to us winning." The JeDi

by blalock84 on Jan 16, 2026 7:51 PM EST reply actions

+1

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by Ray Guilfoyle on Jan 16, 2026 9:38 PM EST up reply actions

I got to hear MLK

I heard MLK speak at the American Baptist Convention when I was in 3rd grade and afterwards met MLK and got to shake his hand. It will always be one of the great memories of my life.

by mbushskbum on Jan 17, 2026 9:43 AM EST via Android app reply actions

Thanks!

To John Sickels for posting the MLK video and creating an intelligent conversation around the legacy of Malcolm X. For those interested in the history of the Civil Rights Movement I strongly recommend the Taylor Branch trilogy - Parting the Waters; Pillar of Fire; and At Canaan’s Edge. Its unfortunate that our collective history did not provide Martin Luther King Jr with the opportunity to bring the kind of social transformation envisioned by the poor peoples campaign of 1968.

by sdaillie on Jan 17, 2026 8:44 PM EST reply actions