The Dangerous King 👑
I didn’t plan on writing about the Kings again today, but hell, if anybody deserves a full week of posts, it’s them.
On Monday, AOC and Ta-Nehisi Coates spoke at the MLK NOW event. Other guests: J. Cole, Ryan Coogler, and Nikole Hannah-Jones, who spearheaded NYT’s 1619 Project earlier this year. The event was held at Riverside Church—holy ground where Dr. King gave a searing speech against the Vietnam War.
You know what’s SO RUDE? When something amazing happens forty blocks away from me AND NOBODY TELLS ME ABOUT IT.
To ease my regret over missing this, I’m curating some of AOC’s remarks here:
ON CAPITALISM AND MORALITY
“I’m not saying that Bill Gates or Warren Buffet are immoral, but a system that allows billionaires to exist when there are parts of Alabama where people are still getting ringworm because they don’t have access to public health is wrong. I think it’s wrong that the majority of the country doesn’t make a living wage. I think it’s wrong that you can work 100 hours and not feed your kids. I think it’s wrong that corporations like Walmart and Amazon can get paid by the government, experiencing a wealth transfer from the public, for paying people less than a minimum wage. It only doesn’t make economic sense, it doesn’t make moral sense.”
ON REAL DEMOCRACY
“We don't have a 'left party' in the United States. We can't even get a floor vote on Medicare for All. Not even a floor vote that gets voted down, we can't even get a vote on it. So this is not a left party.”
AOC’s remarks came just two weeks after she said in an interview with New York magazine that “In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party.” In many parliamentary democracies, voters can support any one of a multitude of parties—who then form multiparty coalition governments—instead of a binary choice between monolithic conservative or liberal parties. (Of course, coalition governments come with their own problems—UK, India, Israel, etc.)
ON BILLIONAIRES
COATES (speaking theoretically): “I made billions of dollars selling those widgets, making those widgets, therefore those billions of dollars are mine. Why am I the enemy?”
AOC: “Well, you didn't make those widgets did you? Because you employed thousands of people and paid them less than a living wage to make those widgets for you. You made that money off the backs of undocumented people. You made that money off the backs of black and brown people being paid under a living wage. You made that money off the backs of single mothers. All these people who are literally dying because they can't afford to live. And so no one ever makes a billion dollars. You take a billion dollars.”
ON INCREMENTAL CHANGE
AOC argued that with its adherence to centrist dogma, the Democratic Party is run by people who think “we can capitalism our way out of poverty,” eschewing initiatives like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. At best, they favor incremental change—seeking or fighting for nothing more.
“And that's an area where I agree with Dr. King—that that assessment is flawed. We can't sit around and use the high school history version of Dr. King. King's life did not end because he said 'I have a dream.' It ended because he was dangerous to the core injustices of this nation. If we want to honor him, we have to be dangerous too.”
ON THE DANGEROUS KING
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” - MLK
“MLK Day is not a day to center the convenient King. It is a day to engage with and reflect on the Dangerous King—the one who directly challenged white supremacy, spoke out against militarism, and denounced the gross concentrations of wealth alongside unconscionable levels of poverty. Let it be known that Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for universal healthcare, housing rights, the end of war. MLK championed unionization of the most vulnerable workers, cautioned against the excesses of runaway capitalism, and advanced an argument for basic income while denouncing the racial wealth gap. In MLK’s time, he was unpopular and disliked. He was denounced as radical, divisive, and unrealistic. Ever wonder why that’s not the King we learned about in school? Far too many politicians take the opportunity to celebrate MLK Day while resisting his agenda and undoing his legacy. Not us, not now. Here’s to the Dangerous King.”
Thanks for reading Gemini Mind! Elsewhere, you can find me as @yokizzi 💫