MLK III protests war, poverty

from The Independent Florida Alligator

By ALEX TIEGEN

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of equality is still just a dream for Americans trapped in the nightmare of poverty, Martin Luther King III told students and community members Tuesday night.

"I say we can and we must do better," he said. "We are a better nation than the behavior we exhibit."

King, speaking in the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, told about 500 students and city residents about the continuing pursuit of his father's dream.

King's speech touched on a broad range of topics, ranging from the war in Iraq to racism and poverty in the United States.

He said Americans should wage a war on the poverty in their own country instead of the war in Iraq. He said the war is diverting money that should be spent on education.

"If I were commander in chief, we would be out of there tomorrow," King said.

King urged students to write to their government representatives and protest the war in Iraq and poverty in America. If that doesn't work, he said, students should resort to sit-ins and marches.

King also said that racism has not disappeared from America. He mentioned that students at Clemson University in South Carolina dressed in blackface and hip-hop clothes to mock a Martin Luther King Jr. remembrance celebration in January.

King said that members of the black community could counter stereotypes of their race by educating themselves and informing others. He said some hip-hop images, such as gaudy clothing, communicate ignorance. King urged audience members not to conform to the hip-hop image if they did not feel comfortable with it.

He also encouraged students to help children living in poverty-stricken communities get educations. "Not everyone can earn a million dollars, but everyone can earn a decent living," he said.

Before the speech, Alachua County Commissioner Rodney J. Long and City Commissioner Scherwin Henry presented King with a scrapbook and a key to the city.

King is now Chief Executive Officer of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta. In 2006, he founded Realizing the Dream, an organization fighting poverty.

The event, which cost $25,000, was co-sponsored by the Black History Month committee and Accent.