Good journalism because it reminds us of facts we may have forgotten--such as that Martin Luther King 'took on issues of poverty and militarism because he considered them vital "to make equality something real and not just racial brotherhood but equality in fact."'

I already read this story in the St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press. As one who is old enough to remember when Dr. King was still alive--I was eleven years old when he was assassinated--I found this report a real eye-opener for more recent generations who weren't fully aware of how he got attacked from all sides of the political spectrum (including many of his fellow activists!). The quote by Princeton history professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell says it all: "Following King meant following the unpopular road, not the popular one."

The line most telling is: "If we forget that, then it seems like the only people we can get behind must be popular," Harris-Lacewell said. "Following King meant following the unpopular road, not the popular one." Speaking of a symbol manipulated to their own purposes, the head of Boeing's IDS division that builds arms for the defense department quoted to all employees the MLK statement that "Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men." Nothing else in the message indicated any awareness of Kings message of putting down nukes and weapons and warfare as destructive to humankind. It did pick up on civil rights, suggesting that black and white we can all work on missiles together. hmmm...