Thread by @bjorn

So you've just heard your first MLK speech that wasn't "I Have a Dream." Here are some other things King said…

#SuperBowl #RamBuiltToServe

"Today capitalism has out-lived its usefulness.”
– Letter to Coretta Scott, July 18, 1952.

“Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God’s children.”
– Speech to the Negro American Labor Council, 1961

“The curse of poverty has no justification in our age…

“It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them…

“The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.”
– Last speech to the Southern California Leadership Conference, “Where Do We Go From Here?," August 16, 1967

“One day we must ask the question, ‘Why are there forty million poor people in America?' And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth…

“When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I’m simply saying that more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society.”
– "Where Do We Go From Here?," August 16, 1967

“Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social. And the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis…

“When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I’m simply saying that more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society.”
– "Where Do We Go From Here?," August 16, 1967

“We have more from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights, an era where we are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society…

“We have been in a reform movement… but after Selma and the voting rights bill, we moved into a new era, which must be the era of revolution. We must recognize that we can’t solve our problem now until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power…

“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.” – Speech to SCLC Board, March 30, 1967

“This means a revolution of values and other things. We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are all tied together... you can’t really get rid of one without getting rid of the others... the whole structure of American life must be changed…

"America is a hypocritical nation and [we] must put [our] own house in order.”
- Report to SCLC Staff, May 1967

“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.”
– Speech to the SCLC Board, March 30, 1967

“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing‐oriented' society to a 'person‐oriented' society…

“When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered…

“True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice, which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth...

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
– "Beyond Vietnam," April 4, 1967

“If America does not use her vast resources of wealth to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life, she too will go to hell.”
- Speech in Memphis, Tennessee, March 18th, 1968, two weeks before his assassination

Thanks to @kthalps and @povertyinit for gathering most of these quotations.

Link 1:
rawstory.com/2017/01/11-mos…

LInk 2: kairoscenter.org/wp-content/upl…

I've made this thread into a Twitter "moment," my first. Would you please share it and maybe we can get it trending while that cynical commercial is still on people's minds:

⚡️ “Some other things MLK said…”
twitter.com/i/moments/9603…

Southern *Christian* Leadership Conference, rather. (Whoops.)

Corrected source:

“The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.”
– Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? (book), 1967

“When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy…

“And I’m simply saying that more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society.”
– Last speech to the Southern Christian Leadership Council, “Where Do We Go From Here?,” August 16, 1967

I also corrected a couple sources and expanded a couple of the quotes in that moment version, so that's the best way to share the whole thread.

I think clicking the "Like" button on the moment page (and clicking “Tweet” from there) gives it an extra push.

Here's the link again:
twitter.com/i/moments/9603…

Please help get these radical MLK quotes trending while that Ram commercial is still fresh in people’s minds.👇🏻

External Tweet loading...
If nothing shows, it may have been deleted
by @bjorn view original on Twitter

“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.”
– Speech to SCLC Board, March 30, 1967

Source clarification:

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
– Speech at Riverside Church, NYC, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence,” April 4, 1967

“If America does not use her vast resources of wealth to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life, she too will go to hell.”
- Speech in Memphis, Tenn., March 18, 1968, two weeks before his assassination

“True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth...

Correction:

“We have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights, an era where we are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society…

And if you use Reddit, please upvote the link here 🙏🏻: reddit.com/r/LateStageCap…