Op-Ed: Martin Luther King Jr. was a radical

Chances are you may not know this fact if your only knowledge of Martin Luther King Jr. comes from your primary schooling textbooks or from the corporate mainstream media’s depiction of him. But his words and deeds prove that he was socialist oriented. As he shared in a 1952 letter to his future wife, Coretta Scott, “I am more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic.” King further elaborated, “So today capitalism has outlived its usefulness. It has brought about a system that takes necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes.” Clearly King was a man who wielded criticisms of capitalism due to its inherent inequality and oppression.

King believed in the “radical transformation of American society," which meant a redistribution of wealth so that the masses of people — the poor and working class — would have their material needs met in full. He believed in healthcare, housing and education for all. He began organizing a “Poor People’s Campaign” to support the rights and dignity of sanitation workers, and all workers thereof. He opposed war and imperialism because he knew they directly threatened the possibility of global peace.

His most daring speech — which some say marked him for death — was called “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." This speech was given exactly one year prior to assassination, during which he boldly indicted “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government.” King rebuked ethnocentrism and instead laid out clearly the mass atrocities, crop and water poisoning, and countless murders committed against the Vietnamese people at the hands of the arrogant U.S. empire that purported to “liberate” the Third World nation. King also condemned the U.S. imperialist actions in Africa, Latin America and other parts of Asia. As he puts it, “When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” Some of us often mistakenly think of these “giant triplets” as Trump's creation, when in reality they are only continued by him, just as they were by his predecessors from both major political parties.

King was not a perfect leader. He had contradictions and made mistakes. We all do. However, one thing that is undeniable is his love and commitment to the people, which can be felt throughout his writings, speeches and interviews. Unlike the liberals who claim to support King but oppose contemporary figures like Colin Kaepernick for their “unpatriotic” stances, King critiqued the very fabric of American society and struggled to end its current socio-political order, because he knew that merely advocating for civil rights for minorities through the U.S. (in)justice system did not equate to actual freedom. Nor should those rights be gained at the expense of the countless colonized peoples who were being terrorized by the U.S. military. This is why he was a target of the COINTELPRO, a covert FBI program that surveilled, infiltrated, disrupted and destroyed leaders deemed subversive to U.S. rule. For example, the FBI had sent King a letter urging him to kill himself. And the U.S. government is alleged to have played a role in his assassination. Now this very same government “honors” King in the form of sanitizing his legacy and deradicalizing his principles.

On a brighter note, King provided the masses with an immense source of hope and continues to do so. The day before he was murdered, he prophesied in his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech that we’d get to the “Promised Land," even though he may not get there with us. And the people are getting there. Millions have been hitting the streets around the country to resist Trump. The interest in socialism, particularly among my peers, has grown significantly since the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Some religious and non-religious leaders are currently reviving the “Poor People’s Campaign." More and more folks are coming to terms, like King did, with the fact that a complete and “radical transformation” of society is necessary for justice, peace, and love to truly manifest.

That in mind, it is imperative that all of us who truly care about social justice learn from Dr. King. We must build on his successes, learn from his shortcomings and practice what it means to courageously speak truth to power ... even if we find ourselves at odds with our own government. In fact, if “our” government is that of the United States, then we must find ourselves at odds with it. The liberation of all oppressed peoples depends on it. This is something that King knew well.