Thankfully, this MLK day, I saw more people posting Letter from A Birmingham Jail than the tired and trampled "Dream" speech that white liberals are so bloody fond of. Particularly this quote:

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

And the current viral "Shit ___ people say about X/to Y" youtube videos have entered into the cybersocialscene a fair amount of intelligent critique re: race, including this one, which I liked for "Martin Luther King wouldn't stand for that."

If there's anything MLK would roll over in his grave for, it'd be being used by white people to silence expressions of anger at racism, and by groups like ICNC (or another group I'm not generally at odds with with whose end-of-year fundraising email bragged about their bringing MLK to Egypt's "non-violent revolution") to smother grassroots anti-imperialist struggle using a diversity of tactics. The same slippage that has turned MLK into a product spokesman for "non-violent revolution" exportable by the CIA and its former employees and allies like Jack DuVall & co. has made feasible the irresponsible reporting last month that, e.g., Egypt Raids Offices of Nonprofits, 3 Backed by U.S.. Freedom House, NED non-profits?? Backed by the U.S.? How about almost fully-funded private agencies of the State Department and Congress, respectively? Of course the mostly rich white men (and their paid lackeys) behind NPIC "peace" operations are some of the most violent people one might never hope to come across in person, as I have experienced personally in receiving the vitriol of Ackerman and Al Giordano, and also of ICNC six-figure "consultant" Stephen Zunes, who emailed my superiors at AU in an attempt to get me silenced/fired after I started mildly criticizing ICNC on my blog. Democracy and free speech, indeed. Peace, brothers.

Earlier this month Maidhc Ó Cathail, who has written insightfully on ICNC, published an article titled Antiwar.com – Your Best Source for Antiwar News?. In it he thoroughly exposes another example of peace/non-violence/anti-war rhetoric draping an imperialist agenda. Read it. Read also:

• Churchill, Ward et al. Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America. Annotated edition. AK Press, 2007.
• Incite! Women of Color Against Violence. The Revolution Will Not be Funded: Beyond the Non-profit Industrial Complex. South End Press, 2007.
• Gelderloos, Peter. How Nonviolence Protects the State. South End Press, 2007. (out of print but hey, write South End- maybe if they get enough demand, they'll issue another edition)