King: "You are demanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor....You are reminding not only Memphis but you are reminding the nation that it is a crime for people who live in this rich nation to receive starvation wages."
Oh - how we need another Dr. Martin Luther King just now!
But in his honor and through the growing Main Street Movement - thousands of Americans came out to reignite the flame and put a fire under the middle class to take back their country. The group Westchester For Change was also out in force with organizer Rachel Estroff speaking briefly.
White Plains NY being the county seat of Westchester NY was ground zero for this event on April 4. The location was nothing short of ideal - At the corner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and within view of the statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s statue standing tall and dominating the entry to the Westchester County Courthouse building.
For too long we let the monied elite call the shots. In 2005 I asked a friend of mine - why isn't there marching in the streets? Don't people know what is being done to them?" Six years later it is finally happening and although I am not a member of a union and have been somewhat ambivalent about unions in the past, this latest assault in Wisconsin, Ohio, New Jersey, Main, and other states has compelled me to join with them in protesting the disintegration of the middle class.
While GE paid nothing in taxes our taxes went UP! While the richest 2% got a huge tax break at the federal level, everyone's property taxes soared. The shifting of the tax burdens from the corporate and the wealthy to ordinary hard-working Americans while social safety nets have been shredded have finally awakened the middle class from what seemed like a stupor of complacency. The middle and working classes are awakening to the fact that they will have to fight to get their country back - and they seem to be up for the battle ahead.
Here are some photos from this We Are One! event...
For more photos, you can see my Flickr Feed.
Further Reading:
Think Progress has been covering the Main Street movement - Here are some links to recent posts. Worth the time, worth the read...
Martin Luther King and Public Workers
Main Street Movement
Ruthmarie, recently I explained to a guy in town that the tuition increases the colleges in KY. are having to levy is a form of taxation but not shared sacrifice since I will not be able to help educate his kid. He had literally never even considered the concept. Our people should just be fair; let me pay my share, let GE pay a fair share then we can all work together to see that the money is well spent. Why can't a statesman step forward and challenge corporations to play fair? That's what my parents taught me. Just play fair. Morality is really pretty simple. Alas, as CCR once sang, "Who'll stop the rain?"
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it - but statesmanship is impossible when the bottom line requires that politicians be anything but. My late mother spent a lot of time in Washington D.C. as a radio interviewer. As such, she interviewed several Congressmen and Senators back in the 1950s to early 1960s. Interestingly enough - several were rather forthcoming about yin/yang regarding statesmanship vs. playing the politician. Even back then - Congressman could be Statesmen for about one year. Senators had the luxury of 4 years of Statesmanship before having to put on their politicians hat. But this was before the corruption of massive sums of money into the system. Now there is literally no time for Congressional members to have any semblance of statesmanship. Senators might have about 18 months out of six years. Worse now since corporations are people.
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