Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on December 7, 1964, London

Democracy Now! and Pacifica Radio Archives aired a newly discovered recording of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on December 7, 1964. King, invited by Christian Action, spoke at City Temple Hall, London, on his way to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Brian DeShazor of Pacifica Radio narrates its finding from their archive and some context for the recording.

World’s Columbian Exposition.

Haiti Building
Haiti Building. World’s Columbian Exposition.

Foreign Buildings
“Foreign Buildings,” consisting of images of the Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, & Haiti buildings. From Columbian Gallery: A Portfolio of Photographs of the World’s Fair by The Werner Company. 4 photographs from a series. 1893.

via Field Museum.

Lecture on Haiti, The Haitian Pavilion Dedication Ceremonies Delivered at the World’s Fair, in Jackson Park, Chicago, Jan. 2d, 1893
By the Honorable Frederick Douglass.

The Ferguson Commission released a people’s report

Their website is the place to begin. NPR – Audie Cornish talks to Rev. Starsky Wilson.

This report is not in any way an investigation of what happened between Michael Brown Jr. and Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson on August 9, 2014, nor is it an investigation of the response to the uprising that followed. Other bodies have been responsible for those investigations.

Consistent with our charge, this report is a “a wide- ranging, in-depth study of the underlying issues brought to light by the events in Ferguson.” In other words, we have looked at a wide variety of factors—social, political, historic, economic, educational, and racial, among them—that contributed to the climate in which those events occurred.

Some of the things we look at may at first seem unrelated to the events in Ferguson. However, our work and the community feedback has shown that these factors have either a direct or indirect connection to the environment in the St. Louis region, and therefore must be considered when discussing any potential changes that might lead to progress.

black prophetic fire

George Yancy and Cornel West-He is a professor of philosophy and Christian practice at Union Theological Seminary and professor emeritus at Princeton University. George Yancy is a professor of philosophy at Emory University.

C.W.: Black prophetic fire is the hypersensitivity to the suffering of others that generates a righteous indignation that results in the willingness to live and die for freedom.

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G.Y.: Why the metaphor of “fire”?

C.W.: That’s just my tradition, brother. Fire really means a certain kind of burning in the soul that one can no longer tolerate when one is pushed against a wall. So, you straighten your back up, you take your stand, you speak your truth, you bear your witness and, most important, you are willing to live and die. Fire is very much about fruits as opposed to foliage. The ice age was all about foliage: “Look at me, look at me.” It was the peacock syndrome. Fire is about fruits, which is biblical, but also Marxist. It’s about praxis and what kind of life you live, what kind of costs you’re willing to bear, what kind of price you’re willing to pay, what kind of death you’re willing to embrace.

That was a great insight that Marcus Garvey had. Remember, Garvey often began his rallies with a black man or woman carrying a sign that read, “The Negro is not afraid.” Once you break the back of fear, you’re on fire. You need that fire. Even if that Negro carrying that sign is still shaking, the way that the lyrical genius Kanye West was shaking when he talked about George W. Bush not caring about black people, you’re still trying to overcome that fear, work through that fear.