Andrew Clem home
Andrew Clem banner

Blog post


Monthly archives
(all categories)


January 16, 2006 [LINK]

MLK: Imagine the possibilities

Most people commemorate Martin Luther King Day by pointing to progress in the field of civil rights since his death, or the lack thereof. That mode of discourse is well and good, but eventually it is going to grow terribly stale, until we finally lose any remaining appreciation for what his struggles meant for this nation. What I would like to emphasize is the astounding transformation he achieved by opening people's minds to previously outlandish possibilities. Like the heroic liberal-minded patriots during the American Revolution, who practically created new rights out of thin air just be declaring them to be "self-evident," King literally created a new social reality in the 1960s by his gift of prophecy and his force of will. Is there any reason why we can't be stirred from our complacent, conformist slumber here in the early 21st Century, and break the bonds of conventional wisdom that keep us trapped in boredom, mediocrity, anxiety, and despair? No, there is not.

Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 16 Jan 2006, 10: 53 PM

(unformatted URL)
      .



This post is over a week old, so comments are closed.


© Andrew G. Clem. All rights reserved. Your use of this material signifies your acceptance of the Terms of use.


Hits on this page (single blog post) since July 2, 2007:

Category archives:
(all years)



This (or that) year's
blog highlights

Blog highlights have been compiled for the years 2010-2012 thus far, and eventually will be compiled for earlier years, back to 2002.


Explanation

The "home made" blog organization system that I created was instituted on November 1, 2004, followed by several functional enhancements in subsequent years. I make no more than one blog post per day on any one category, so some posts may cover multiple news items or issues. Blog posts appear in the following (reverse alphabetical) order, which may differ from the chronological order in which the posts were originally made:

  1. Wild birds (LAST)
  2. War
  3. Science & Technology
  4. Politics
  5. Latin America
  6. Culture & Travel
  7. Canaries ("Home birds")
  8. Baseball (FIRST)