Martin Luther King Jr. in his own words (video)

Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Amy Goodman, DemocracyNow.org

Historian on the March on Washington and the Kennedys’ aversion to MLK’s struggle

 

MLK Jr., born Michael in 1929, was assassinated at age 39 on April 4, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was a Protestant minister, Ph.D., Nobel laureate, and cheated on his wife rather being the saint many attempt to portray him as. While he is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, Dr. King was also a fierce critic of military-industrial U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War as well as U.S. genocides in Laos and Cambodia. He also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Let us listen to his "Beyond Vietnam" speech, delivered at New York City’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, as well as his last speech, "I Have Been to the Mountain Top," which he gave on April 3, 1968, the night before [the government] assassinated him.

 

Malcolm X Day 2015

(Daily Kos) Today (Jan. 20th), is the federal holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We now have an entire generation who has grown up in the United States with this holiday... But there has been a lot of racist resistance to it. There is a government sponsored Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, which mentions, "After a long struggle, legislation was signed in 1983 creating a federal holiday marking the birthday" though his actual birth date was Jan 15, 1929.

The METTA of Martin Luther King Jr. (video)

Jason Espada; Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly: MLK DAY!

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Christian minister, with his friend, fellow peace activist, and anti Vietnam War agitator, the Buddhist monk Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh

Remembering Rev. King and the March on Washington, D.C. (history.com)

 

There are parallels between Dr. King’s ideas and the Buddha's teachings on metta (universal loving kindness).

 

Both figures show us love as a method of personal and social transformation. There are a few places where they overlap and in some ways potentially complement one another.

Metta is the traditional step-by-step method of Buddhist loving-kindness practice. It begins with oneself, moves on to those who are closest to us [usually our spiritual teacher(s)], and aims to reach a magnitude that includes everyone. It is a universal or illimitable state, one of the "Divine Abidings" (Brahma Viharas), because eventually it includes all living beings in all directions without bias.

Trayvon Martin teaches us that it is not over.

By contrast, Dr. King drew on Christian sources to speak of love. The first parallel is his teaching on the different types of love. "There are three words for 'love' in the Greek version of the New Testament; one is the word 'eros,' a sort of esthetic, romantic love. Plato used to talk about it a great deal in his dialogues, the yearning of the soul for the realm of the divine. And there is and can always be something beautiful about eros, even in its expressions of romance. Some of the most beautiful love in all of the world has been expressed this way."

It is interesting that Rev. King, a Baptist minister, starts here. It is an expression of love we can all relate to, not one too high up in the clouds. Metta practice also begins with the feelings we have for those closest to us. But the Buddha points out, as does King, that there is more to love.

Dr. King in living color in D.C. (easternct.edu)

Metta teachings from the outset have us distinguishing between attachment and a purer (more altruistic) love between people. Basically, if we crave for something in return, if we are motivated by possessiveness, or if it is liable to turn into something else -- such as anger or hatred if it is unrequited -- then it is done with attachment (clinging, upadana) not with metta. 

We must be clear about this. King goes on to speak of another kind: "Then the Greek language talks about 'philia,' which is another word for love, and philia is a kind of intimate love between personal friends. This is the kind of love you have for those people [whom] you get along with well, and those whom you like on this level you love because you are loved."

  

MLK (meditationandspiritualgrowth.com)

This is also something we have all known in our lives. I recently came across a beautiful teaching on the most noble qualities of friendship in Fr. Wayne Teasdale's book, A Monk in the World. In it, he mentions the tradition of Latin Christianity, which "places the emphasis on friendship’s spiritual character, calling a friend in the monastic context acustos animi, or a guardian of one’s soul." 

Teasdale adds, "All friendship requires other centeredness," and this is "really knowing our friends’ hearts.

No more racism, sexism! (FEMEN)

It includes committed friendship’s usual intense affective power, but it also serves our friends’ ultimate well being." That metta practice moves from oneself, or those closest to us, to our friends, is intended to touch this vital quality of caring in us, to awaken and enhance it so we can share it with more and more people. There is refinement of our love, an elevating quality that we develop.

King concludes the passage: "Then the Greek language has another word for love, and that is the word 'agape.' Agape is more than romantic love, it is more than friendship. Agape is understanding, creative, redemptive good will toward all [humans]. Agape is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return."

MLK, John F. Kennedy, and other prominent civil rights activists in black history

  

In the same way, metta aims to become mature love. In contrast to Christian methods, which have many wonderful features, the strength of the Buddhist tradition of metta is that it sets out a path of practice that shows us what step we can take next. This brings us to a second parallel teaching, one King called The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life.

The peace activist diet (PETA)

"There are three dimensions...length, breadth, and height. Now the length of life as we shall use it here is the inward concern for one’s own welfare. In other words, it is that inward concern that causes one to push forward, to achieve [one's] own goals and ambitions.

The breadth of life as we shall use it here is the outward concern for the welfare of others. And the height of life is the upward reach for God. Now you [have] got to have all three of these to have a complete life.

"Now let’s turn for the moment to the length of life. I said that this is the dimension of life where we are concerned with developing our inner powers. In a sense this is the selfish dimension of life. There is such a thing as rational and healthy self-interest. Before you can love other selves adequately, you’ve got to love your own self properly.

MLK, Thay, Dr. Browne (digitalunion.osu.edu)

"And you know what loving yourself also means? It means that you’ve got to accept yourself."

 

It is great King started here. A lot of us have problems being kind to ourselves. And even if it is not essential as the very first step towards loving others, from a Buddhist point of view, it is still something we all need to learn to do if we are going to make progress in our metta practice.

 

United We Stand - with love/metta

One of the skillful means in metta is that we should start with whomever we find easiest and progress from there. After cultivating thoughts wishing others well, beginning with those most dear, for days or weeks or months, we have some metta to work with.

We then start to see how we, too, are worthy of respect and the kindness of others.

For some people this is a long process, but it is something we can all do. This is very encouraging. 

MLK made our collective dream a reality!

"Now the other thing about the length of life: after accepting ourselves and our tools, we must discover what we are called to do. And once we discover it we should set out to do it with all of the strength and all of the power that we have in our systems.

"Be the best of whatever you are. And when you do this, when you do this, you’ve mastered the length of life.

"Now don’t stop here, though. You know, a lot of people get no further in life than the length. They develop their inner powers; they do their jobs well. But do you know, they try to live as if nobody else lives in the world but themselves.

 

10 Things About MLK (history.com)

A lot of people never get beyond the first dimension of life. So I move on and say that it is necessary to add breadth to length. Now the breadth of life is the outward concern for the welfare of others, as I said. And a [one] has not begun to live until [one] can rise above the narrow confines of...individual concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."

 

Let's laugh and end racism (sodahead.com)

Metta is just this -- starting with what is nearest to us and extending outwards, becoming more and more inclusive until it reaches what are called the Divine Abodes: universal love, compassion (the active side of love), appreciative joy (happiness in others' success and happiness), and equanimity (non-bias) -- all born of the strength of our dedication. (Let us return to equanimity or upekkha, further on as it is a quality so impressively demonstrated by King and others in the Civil Rights movement). More

Remembering JFK all day (KPFK)

Wisdom Quarterly; Pacifica Radio, Los Angeles (KPFK.org)

Idealistic Americans look on about to become witnesses to a government killing (TTH).

  

Who killed John F. Kennedy 50 years ago? Even US Sec'y of State and former presidential candidate John Kerry knows better than to believe the "official story." What's the real story? According to researcher and longtime political insider Roger Stone (LBJkilledJFK.com), it was Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson who coordinated the CIA, Dallas police, and other agents (including the primary shooter) to carry out the most famous televised assassination in history. This murder was meant for all to see. And as a result, the US went into Buddhist Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos to drop more munitions than were used in all of WW II. Not only does Stone paint a compelling picture citing mounds of evidence, he does not exclude anyone from the plan. Attorney Mark Lane explains the CIA's involvement, their rationale, the complicity, and their subsequent cover up. Listen Friday, November 22, 2013 at KPFK Audio Archives:

Special Programming	Nov. 22, 3:00 pm		Play  Download
Special Programming 2	Nov. 22, 2:00 pm		Play  Download
From The Vault - Pacifica Radio Archives	Nov. 22, 1:00 pm		Play
Special Programming 2	Nov. 22, 12:00 pm		Play  Download
Special Programming 2	Nov. 22, 11:30 am		Play  Download

Special Programming 2 Project Censored Hour 1 - Filmmakers Oliver Stone and Prof. Peter Kuznick	Nov. 22 11:03 am		Play  Download
The Michael Sate Show Guest: C. Clark Kissinger (SDS), longtime activist and manager of Revolution Books, NYC Topic: JFK: Friend of the people? Or brutal commander-in-chief for US imperialism? + Listener calls. RevCom.us	Nov. 22, 10:00 am		Play  Download
Special Programming	Nov. 22, 9:30 am		Play  Download
Special Programming 1992 interview with New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. Part 1. Part 2 is in the 9:30 am slot	Nov. 22, 9:00 am		Play  Download
Uprising!   Nov. 22, 8:00 am Play  Download

50th Anniversary: Who shot JFK?

Pfc. Sandoval, Pat Macpherson, Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Roger Stone (StoneZone.com, LBJkilledJFK.com), John B. Wells (coasttocoastam.com, 11-16-13)

On the anniversary of a government assassination, author Roger Stone makes a case.

    

Roger Stone (tintuchangngay.org)

Mystery finally solved. Author Roger Stone combines decades of insider political knowledge with cutting edge JFK assassination research to arrive at a startling conclusion, the same conclusion the Russian KGB previously arrived at: Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson arranged the assassination of John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963.

Coast to Coast radio co-host John B. Wells talked to Stone to lay out the case that future-president Lyndon B. Johnson manipulated the situation in Dallas to have JFK killed. He even sent in his own gunman (Malcolm Wallace), arranging for him to be on the sixth floor of the book depository.

ANNIE HALL: Funny Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) uses the Single Bullet Theory and JFK "conspiracy" as an obsessive excuse to avoid intimacy with his first wife.

 

In his book The Man Who Killed Kennedy, Stone describes LBJ as an amoral psycho who was coarse, corrupt, ruthless, greedy, dishonest, crude, and vicious. He was being indicted on the same day as the assassination and would have been formally charged and potentially imprisoned had he not ascended to the presidency that fateful day.

LBJ routinely abused people and was known to conduct meetings from the toilet to humiliate his Ivy League staffers, which he inherited from JFK. According to Stone, LBJ can be tied to at least eight murders, including one to cover-up the voter fraud that led to his first election victory.

 

Chaotic scene that once terrorized a nation as badly as 9/11 footage haunts citizens now

 

LBJ: for banks, war profits, revenge...

JFK's brother Robert Kennedy hated LBJ and did not want him on the presidential ticket with his brother, Stone explains, adding that JFK had already selected and asked Stuart Symington to be his running mate. 

But LBJ visited JFK late one night to blackmail him threatening to release a dossier on his sexual exploits (given to him by his neighbor FBI head J. Edgar Hoover) if he did not put him on the ticket, Stone reveals. 

 

Stone further connects LBJ to numerous criminals and nefarious dealings that were sure to eventually land him in jail. "The only way for him to stay out of prison was to become president himself," Stone says.

• JFK conspiracy redux: Judyth Vary Baker Judyth Vary Baker, author of Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love & Lose Lee Harvey Oswald made a rare US appearance in 2012 to discuss her book. Her explosive story brings new insight to the US cancer epidemic and the role of patsy Oswald in the... 
• Did LBJ Kill Kennedy? (And Why It Matters): Q/A with Roger Stone... (Reason.com) "I think he's an amoral psychopath," says Roger Stone of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. "I think he's crude, evil, vicious, vindictive, drunk." 
• Nixon aide Roger Stone's claim: LBJ arranged the murder of JFK (21stCenturyWire.com)... Not known as a man of high moral character, Roger Stone, a former White House aide to Richard Nixon, has made some surprising...
• Who is author Roger Stone? He is the Republican insider who took down NY Governor Eliot Spitzer

(RT/Breaking the Set) Abby Martin speaks with former Nixon White House

advisor and self-proclaimed "GOP Hitman" Roger Stone about his book

Oswald's girlfriend Judyth Vary Baker explains why

LBJ used his political power to hide secret CIA programs in the aerospace budget, control military contracts, get Mob (Mafia) payoffs to protect illegal gambling operations in Texas, and look out for large oil interests in his home state, Stone explained. LBJ basically had a unique relationship with every party involved in the plot to kill JFK.

According to Stone, LBJ vacationed with mob boss Carlos Marcello at a resort owned by Texas oil man Clint Murchison, Sr., who hated JFK because he was trying to repeal a giant tax giveaway known as the Oil Depletion Allowance. One of the triggermen was LBJ's right hand man.

Stone also points out that US Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, JFK's father and a former gangster, had blackmailed mob bosses Carlos Marcello, Santo Trafficante, and others for money and support of his son in the election, threatening that if they did not help they would face deportation. 

Baker lives in constant fear of assassination

But LBJ is the linchpin of the plot to kill JFK: He controlled Dallas and urged JFK go there and to take the exact route he took, which violated Secret Service safety protocols, in that a 120 degree turn was involved. Texas governor and LBJ protégé John Connally nevertheless insisted JFK go through Dealey Plaza. 

 

Stone believes that there were multiple shooters used that day, including one on the grassy knoll, as JFK was shot from the front and back. He credits Malcolm "Mac" Wallace, a Marine marksman LBJ used to kill several people, with shooting JFK from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. His fingerprint was recovered from his sniper's nest.

The fingerprint evidence and an eyewitness place Wallace at the scene of the crime, Stone explains, adding that patsy Lee Harvey Oswald's prints were planted there. The gun Oswald is said to have used could not possibly have been used in the commission of this act due to its limitations, the time it takes to fire off two consecutive shots, and Oswald's marksmanship.

 

It has been proven that the Marines' best marksman could not make the shot today with such a weapon nor cock and fire off as many shots as Oswald is said to have discharged. All of this is detailed and documented in Stone's book The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ.

New NSA revelations (video)

Wisdom Quarterly

Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill are working on new NSA revelations

Working on new revelations (news.yahoo)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Two American journalists known for their investigations of the United States' government said they have teamed up to report on the National Security Agency's role in what one called a "U.S. assassination program."

(WQ) The N.S.A. has a history of secret war activity, propaganda (psyops), and unconstitutional spying on American citizens and others around the world -- as journalists Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill continue to reveal. Most N.S.A. spying has been done by the use of cell (mobile) phones, Internet activity, electronic databanks, and cameras owned by private firms who share information with the clandestine American spying agency (for profit and influence) linked with the CIA, NSC, FBI, and Pentagon. Together, they form the core of the US military-industrial complex.