| Sunday, October 30, 2005 |
| MAKE BULLSHIT HISTORY |
 Some afterthoughts on the 'Make Poverty History' demonstrations in the summer. Malcolm X had this to say about the march where Martin Luther King made the 'I have a dream' speech. Most of it applies to the make poverty history stuff....
"the negroes were out there in the streets. They were talking about how they were going to march on Washington, march on the senate, march on the Whitehouse, march on the congress and tie it up - bring it to a halt and not let the government proceed. They even said they were going out to the airport to lay down on the runway and not let any airplanes land. I'm telling you what they said - that was revolution, that was revolution, that was the black revolution. It was the grassroots out there in the street; it scared the white man to death; scared the white power structure in Washington DC to death - I was there. When they found out that this black steamroller was going to come down on the capital they called in these national negro leaders that you respect and told them call it off. Kennedy said 'look you all are letting this thing go too far' and old Tom said 'Boss I can't stop it I because I didn't start it.'
I'm telling you what they said. They said 'I'm not even in it much less at the head of it.' They said 'these negroes are doing things on their own; they're running ahead of us.' And that old, shrewd fox, he said 'if you all aren't in it I'll put you in it. I'll put you at the head of it, I'll endorse it, I'll welcome it, I'll help it, I’ll join it.'
"This is what they did with the march on Washington, they joined it, became part of it, took it over. And as they took it over it lost its militancy. It ceased to be angry, it ceased to be hot, it ceased to be uncompromising. Why, it even ceased to be a march - it became a picnic, a circus, nothing but a circus - with clowns and all.
No, it was a sell-out. It was a takeover. They controlled it so tight the told those negroes what time to hit town, where to stop, what signs to carry , what songs to sing, what speech they could make, what speech they couldn't make and then told them to get out of town by sundown. |
posted by michael the tubthumper @ 8:24 pm  |
|
| 3 Comments: |
-
Interesting, but I think there's a crucial difference. The marchers in DC were--in many ways--marching for their lives, unlike the overwhelming majority of the West's Make Poverty History campaigners. Yes, the later deification of King turned the whole thing into a picnic for suburban grade schools like me, growing up thinking those problems were "solved". But look what followed the march in Washington--in later years King took a more radical, anti-imperial stance. He raised the stakes. I would guess that, despite the, uh, "picnicization" of the civil rights movement in the States, it has achieved more than we should expect from Bono and Co.
-
^
noticing the comment above.
You don't hear much about King's later years.
-
you're both right. i suppose the bit i am trying to draw attention to is "This is what they did with the march on Washington, they joined it, became part of it, took it over."
2 of the ministers from blairs government marched that day knowing full well that their policies r part of the problem. one person joked "what banner are they going to carry - one with 'down with me and everything i stand for' on it?"
by placing geldof and bono and the pop stars at the front of it all it turned the thing into a party. most of the media coverage was about which band was best on the day and not about the issue.
|
| |
| << Home |
| |
|
|
|
U.S. MONETARY Cost of the War in Iraq - other people are spending too, and the human cost is much higher (JavaScript Error)
| |
| What is Tubthumping and who is doing it? |
|
Name: michael the tubthumper
Home: Glasgow, Scotland
About Me: Tub-Thumper - 1. A speaker or preacher who for emphasis thumps the pulpit; a violent or declamatory preacher or orator; a ranter. This blog will be a combination of reasoned posting somedays and an occasional rant.
28 years old, I write and research for a couple of websites and also do my own stuff.
See my complete profile
|
| Thumping The Tub Video |
I have made a few short movies. Here are links to free downloads for them all in the order that I made them (as far as I can remember). Please feel free to use, distribute, disagree with, shout at etc etc
Praise The Lord and Pass The Ammunition
This was a REAL song from World War 2. I was so stunned by it I had to make a movie
How Far Is It From Here to Nuremberg
This is my attempt at a video for the excellent, if worrying, David Rovics (see links) song
What You Like
I believe the word for this is "splenetic". Only 20 seconds long.
Imperial Measures
What is going on in Iraq? Some things you knew, some you didn't. A couple of bits of info are out of date now.
Wish You Were Here
Wish You Were Here is a 6 minute film about the unprecendted rate of animal extinction we are currently experiencing
Gorillas and us
I don't like creationism, neither did Douglas Adams
|
| Recent Thumping |
|
| Older Thumping |
|
| Links |
spinwatch
adbusters
internet archive
art not oil
blairwatch
bushflash
camcorder guerillas
corporate watch
campaign for press freedom
noam chomsky
common dreams
counterpunch
cost of war
david rovics
democracy now
dissident voice
the dossier
downing street says
etims
robert fisk
food not bombs
global research
gmwatch
impeach blair
indybay video
killing hope
lobbywatch
mediachannel
medialens
mickey z
mixed up records
george monbiot
mark thomas
john pilger
radio 4 all
schnews
snow shoe films
sourcewatch
tom englehardt
ukwatch
video activist network
howard zinn
|
|
|
| some of the blogs I look at |
|
| Arse of the month |
The inaugural 'Arse of the month' award goes to our very own Scottish First Minister Jack (Joke) McConnell. He seems to spend a lot of his time sucking up to english politicians and yet it appears they don't even know his name. Follow the link to see..
NODOBY KNOWS ME
|
| It's All Gone Scottish |
A list of some other Scottish sites and blogs most of which, if not all, are pro-independence. I don't agree with content on all of them obviously. Some are Scots at home, others abroad.
The Scottish Patient
Kim Ayres
Our Scotland
average tosser
1820
big stick small carrot
J. Arthur MacNumpty
World of Jack McConnell
The Firefox Chronicles
Independence 1st
Radio Free Scotland
Scots and independent
Scottish Independence Guide
TCOAW
Small Nation
Inveresk Street Ingrate
Radical Glasgow
|
| Want to Swot? |
If you like this site and think it is time to start getting informed here are a few real favourites of mine that will help you blow away the corporate and government propaganda you are constantly bombarded with. It is added to every so often.
politics and the english language
Beyond Hope
the gore exception
your tax dollars at work
a cultural chernobyl
choose life (not trainspotting)
shooting an elephant
a war crime within a war crime...
the menace of liberal scholarship
the modern era of law
naming the problem
the four ages of sand
a news revolution has begun
come september
money is the cause of poverty
countering corporate power
|
| Other Stuff |
Who links to me?
Fight Spam! Click Here!
Blogdust
 |
|
Interesting, but I think there's a crucial difference. The marchers in DC were--in many ways--marching for their lives, unlike the overwhelming majority of the West's Make Poverty History campaigners. Yes, the later deification of King turned the whole thing into a picnic for suburban grade schools like me, growing up thinking those problems were "solved". But look what followed the march in Washington--in later years King took a more radical, anti-imperial stance. He raised the stakes. I would guess that, despite the, uh, "picnicization" of the civil rights movement in the States, it has achieved more than we should expect from Bono and Co.