Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Arts and Humanities Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

History

City University of New York (CUNY)

2020

Martin Luther King Jr.

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

When It Comes To Racial Justice, Why Is It Wrong To Demand The "Impossible"?, Kristopher B. Burrell Nov 2020

When It Comes To Racial Justice, Why Is It Wrong To Demand The "Impossible"?, Kristopher B. Burrell

Publications and Research

Asking “is what is being demanded politically realistic?” or “politically possible?” is a persistent problem with the ways many liberals who imagine themselves as progressive still think about ending systemic racial discrimination, and about protests against racism. Such questions ask us to measure “the realistic” and “the possible” prior to making political demands, and presume that the efficacy of social protest movements correlates with a tacit agreement between activists and those in power about what politics should look like. The demand for realism also betrays a particular racial and class privilege on the part of the person asking the question: …


I Was Called, Too: The Life And Work Of Coretta Scott King, Kristopher B. Burrell Jan 2020

I Was Called, Too: The Life And Work Of Coretta Scott King, Kristopher B. Burrell

Publications and Research

I thought it both appropriate—and overdue—to discuss the significance of Coretta Scott King. And not just as the wife, and eventual widow, of Martin Luther King; but as an important activist and shaper of Dr. King’s ideas. Mrs. King was a significant figure in her own right, but as with many female historical figures her historical importance has often been minimized or negated; and that can lead to erasure, even in plain sight. This has largely been the case with Mrs. King and with black women in the civil rights movement more broadly.