We Celebrate the REAL MLK Day

Still Processing

The New York Times

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Arts

4.8 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 April 2018

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. While MLK’s birthday is celebrated on a national level, we spend time processing why his death holds a significant importance as well. We examine the months leading up to MLK Jr.’s death, including his iconic speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” and discuss the ways in which his ideals shifted after his “I Had A Dream” speech. MLK day is a celebration of King’s birthday, and we suggest that maybe what we should really be marking is the day of his assassination. Discussed This Week: “My Life with Martin Luther King Jr.” (Coretta Scott King, Henry Holt & Co.) “They Push. They Protest. And Many Activists, Privately, Suffer As A Result” (John Eligon, The New York Times) “Linda Brown, Symbol of Landmark Desegregation Case, Dies at 75” (Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times) A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. (Martin Luther King Jr., HarperCollins Publishers)

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Jenna Wertham.
0:01.3	I'm Wesley Morris.
0:02.4	We're two culture writers at the New York Times.
0:05.0	I mostly write about how humans relate to technology.
0:08.1	And I mostly write about how movies and popular culture
0:10.4	relate to humans.
0:11.7	This is still processing.
0:24.4	Welcome back to our show.
0:26.5	We're doing something a little different this week.
0:28.6	We wanted to commemorate the 50th anniversary
0:32.8	of Martin Luther King's assassination in Memphis, Tennessee
0:35.7	in 1968.
0:37.6	On April 4th, we wanted to treat that with the salinity
0:41.8	we thought it deserves.
0:44.2	And we also wanted to ask some questions about what
0:48.0	we're commemorating by recognizing that he was killed.
0:52.8	It just seems like a very serious thing.
0:54.6	It seemed more serious now that we're sitting here together
0:57.7	than I thought it would feel speculating
1:00.5	about what it might mean and how I might feel.
1:04.2	We are having this conversation while protest
1:07.6	have been going on in Sacramento, California
	...

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