The Young Turks - THEY CALLED HIM RADICAL: A TRIBUTE TO KING

Episode Date: January 18, 2023

Dr. Rashad Richey, Senator Nina Turner, Rickey Smiley, and Sharon Reed reflect on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy and discuss the modern-day civil rights movement. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. All right, welcome. You see it already? Amazing people. Two of my favorite people in the world. We have Senator Nina Turner and my big homie, Ricky Smiley. This is our special tribute to King. they called him radical.

Senator, thank you for being here. Ricky, thank you for being here. My pleasure. All right. Here's how we're going to do this. Typically, when there's a show like this, we like to talk about the Dr. King they gave us. That Dr. King, by the way,

the one that said, I have a dream, also said later that dream has turned into a nightmare. He said that. Do they tell you he said that? No. For years, I taught a course at the university called Dr. King as a change agent. And we dived into the actual, real, maturing, progressing human being named Dr. King. What happens in the journey of humanity?

Well, we grow. we have one ideology and then we may have another. What did Dr. King say in his latter years? Did it conflict with what he said in his previous? Did he have hope that one thing was true and then learned that another one was true? We're going to talk about that. They called him radical. Let me highlight what that means for just a moment.

They called him radical because he was. Let me say that again. They called him radical because he was. If you think being radical is negative, they have already indoctrinated you to not even look at what the word means. You know what radical means. So here's what radical means. This is the actual definition. There's no special definition, just a regular definition. Radical means relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something. it means far-reaching and thorough.

Did Dr. King try to fundamentally change something? Yes. Did he do it in a way where he was thorough? Yes, he worked hard every day, top-down, day-night. Well, that's your definition of radical. So yes, he was a radical. I submit that to you, no problem. Joe Biden did the speech at Historic Ebenezer.

We do this every year. I'm right here in Atlanta, Georgia. It's a big deal. All of the important people come together. Ebenezer is that historic place. My dear brother, Senator Warnock, is the pastor there. The president came and spoke. Bernice King, Dr. King, she is a good friend of mine as well.

Here's part of what Biden said during his speech. Progress is never easy, but it's always possible. The things do get better on our March 12th. a more perfect union. But at this inflection point, we know there's a lot of work that has to continue on economic justice, civil rights,

voting rights. I'm protecting our democracy. And I'm remembering that our job is to redeem the soul of America. Okay. I don't have any issue with the words of President Joe Biden.

I have no issue. I do have issue with the lack of proclamation about what has been done. We all agree what needs to be done. Let me get down to it. Joe Biden delivered a sermon at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. This was in Atlanta becoming the first sitting president to do so at the church. where Martin Luther King Jr. once pastor. King served as a pastor of the historic church until his assassination in 1968 at the age of 39. Georgia Senator Raphael Wernock, who is the church's

current pastor, invited the president to deliver the sermon on what would have been King's 94th birthday. Here's a quote. So President Biden said, are we a people who choose democracy over autocracy. You couldn't ask that question 15 years ago, right? You would have thought democracy was settled, not for African Americans, but democracy as an institutional structure was settled. But it's not, it's not. We have to choose a community of chaos. Are we the people going to choose love over hate? These are the vital questions of our time. And the reason why I'm here as your president, I believe Dr. King's life and legacy show us the way and we should pay attention. That is correct, Mr. President. He also said he didn't believe in gradualism. He also said

this is not going to happen if you let them continue to make you compromise. And here we are. So I open this up for the panel. Every single year, and I will go to you first, Senator Turner. every single year when the holiday of King comes around they give you this very curated version of him and they say things like, well, Dr. King did not see color. That's a damn light. It's all color every day. He talked about it.

Okay, so what say you? Yeah, I was signed, Doc. I mean, listen, he said the right things, but does he do the right thing? He's the President of the United States of America. He has the power in his hands. He has the power of the soapbox. And the John Lewis Voting Rights Act,

Last time I checked, did not pass when the Democrats had full control. Dr. King was in Memphis to support sanitation workers, but this president and the previous Congress took away the power of rail workers to go on strike. So although what he said, you know, economic rights, voting rights, all of that stuff is really nice. But to quote the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one thing to work towards achieving what he was fighting for, what he lived for, what he died for, with his contemporaries, what Mrs. Carreta Scott King was fighting for is a whole different thing. So while I applaud that he is the first president to come to the church, however, he is wanting. So I was not impressed whatsoever. You know, Ricky, I would say this, there is a sentiment. you are a genuine person connected to civil rights and civil rights leaders in the movement.

But there is a sentiment that we engage in these symbols rather than allowing those opportunities, which is a great opportunity. I love going to Ebenezer. It's a great opportunity to launch something from there, to have a plan of action. What say you? Yeah, I think it would have been great to see the president of the United States sign a bill. while he was there, you know, kind of picking back off of what Senator Turner said. Symbolism, yeah, is one thing, but action is another thing, you know, while he had the, you know, the Senate, you know, and the Congress. And, you know, what's really scary, our voting rights are at risk right now.

Everything that Dr. King died for and others, along with other civil right leaders, have sacrificed their lives. is in question, all of the critical race theory and all of this stuff and our history being trying to erase our history and all of that, stuff like that. So I think that we are probably in more danger, just as much danger now as we were in the 60s. So, you know, got a lot of work to do.

A whole lot of work to do, and there are some actions obviously that can be taken by executive order. There's some gray area, but you know, Republicans that have no issue pushing the gray. Hell, they will do things flat out illegal. We have seen these posts, people that vote against Dr. King,

against the sentiment of Dr. King. Every time the holiday comes around, they post, oh, we love Dr. King. We support Dr. King. Everybody needs to be like Dr. King. Let's put one up. Bobert, Lauren Boebert, U.S. Congresswoman, who by the way, just guided to a girl,

girl fight with Marginle Green. She says the ultimate measure of a man, she's quoting Dr. King, is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She then says on this day, we remember his incredible legacy and contributions to this great nation. Ironic, because Bulburt is against the policies that Dr. King stood for, not only in her rhetoric, but also in her voting policy. Here's another dynamic that is worthy of note. She says the ultimate measure is not where you stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where you stand at moments of controversy. Well, Bobert, you were standing with Matt Gates in a moment of controversy. You were standing with a man who is under criminal federal investigation for trafficking an underage child for the purposes of sex.

That's who you were standing next to, okay? It was a moment of controversy for your party. You backed him. That's your guy. He's your leader. He broke it the deal and looks to be a power player, even though he's under investigation for trafficking an underage child. All right.

So let's talk about this dynamic that seems to sweep over social media every King celebration, while they will say, well, you're radical if you believe in, and they will list principles that Dr. King stood for, right? They say, we're radical because we believe like Dr. King. Then on Dr. King's birthday celebration, everybody loves Dr. King. Let's talk about this. Ricky, what are your thoughts here? Yeah, yeah, I find it interesting, you know, Dr. King's birthday, people to the way right, always quoting Dr. King and go against their. everything, turn around and go against everything that he stood for. And it's just the biggest hypocrisy I have ever seen or whatever for people to be quoting

Dr. King and tweeting about Dr. King and they're against everything, you know, like we talked about earlier, like voting rights and just look at all the gerrymandering that's going on, just making an arm of black folk and brutality, among other things. These are the things that Dr. King talked about us before and against almost everything because, you know, here we are still following Dr. King's theology to this day or whatever, and they're against everything. So it's like I'm trying to be nice, but a bunch of hypocrites pretty much. And they say in some of the quotes to compare some of the things out of the Bible and things about Jesus. Jesus Christ himself, the so-called we love God and we love Jesus or whatever, but you hate, people of color, and you're against people of color. So I can go on day about that, but we don't have enough time.

Yeah, and Ricky, and they are hypocrites. So we're having some technical difficulties. Hopefully we'll get Dr. Ritchie back, but he wants us to carry on it. So that's what we're going to do. We're so glad that everybody is here with us tonight. For Riggi, you're absolutely right. And when Dr. Ritchie pointed out what Bobert had to say, you know, Dr. Bernice King went at some of the politicians like Bobert and explained to them that what my father stood for, you pretty much are antithesis of or, and I'm paraphrasing her, you need to study a little more. And I have one of those tweets right now. She, it was Senator Blackburn had said the same quote, today we celebrate a man committed to a vision, you know, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, like they always do about this time. And Dr. Bernice King tweeted, quote tweeted on her and said, Senator Blackburn, my father's vision was that we eradicate racism, militarism, and poverty.

Deconstructing systems that did not equity and access safety and opportunity does not equal judging white people for being white. I invite you to study the king's center institute.org. So she just dropped the mic on her. You need to study some stuff. And so that, you know, they always pull out those types of quotes that make them feel comfortable, but they don't understand the essence of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., because he fought back against white supremacy and anti-blackness. And he was very clear about that and about the conditions that America was in when. he was pushing back on America

and he didn't mince words. And Ricky, I love how Dr. Ritchie laid out what radical means because people have a misnomer about what that means. And I think it was Dr. Angela Davis who simplified it even more. She said radical just simply means getting at the root. And Dr. King definitely

got to the root. And back to the, there's a book called the Radical King that Dr. Cornell West actually edited. And in that book he really lays out the Martin Luther King, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that we rarely hear anything about. And so while President Joe Biden went to Ebenezer Baptist Church and gave his speech about what we need to do,

as if he don't have the power to make some of those things happen, or at least be on that soapbox so much that people know, truly know where he stands. on April the 4th, 1968 in Memphis, the last day of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, you know, his last day, he phoned Eponizer Baptist Church in Atlanta with the title of his sermon, why America might go to hell. Might go to hell. If he had preached this sermon, the Radical King would be more well known. And that's Dr. Cornel West, you know, I'm taking that excerpt from his book. So Dr. King didn't mince words. He got down to the root. Now, he didn't give that speech, but had he given that speech, people would know who the radical king was. Now, at the time, Ricky, I want you to respond to this. When Dr. King really came out against the Vietnam War, he came out and said militarism,

materialism, and racism. When he did that, he messed with some folks. They were like, oh, no. And it wasn't just white folks. It was black folks, too. At the time that a poll was taken, only 72% of whites did not like Dr. King. And check this out, 55% of blacks did not like his position on the Vietnam War and the way that he was fighting against poverty. What are some of your thoughts about how that could be the reality in the 60s?

And fast forward, if Dr. King was advocating for those same things in 2023, I think it's. approval rate might be around the same. Yeah. It's interesting you say that anybody on the left or anybody that's fighting for civil rights and fighting for things that matter or whatever, it just seems like they just get demonized, you know, Social Security, healthcare, what they did President Obama when he was trying to get health care for everybody. and they demonized Obamacare. And, you know, like I live in Alabama, and I get people from the right, you know, all the time trying to articulate the conversation.

But they turn around and benefit from, you know, from some of the things that President Obama did. But when you got, you know, news outlets like Fox News and some of these dangerous, dangerous radicals. out here saying inflammatory things. If I'm not mistaken, somebody went and shot somebody. If I'm not mistaken, a radical today down. It's on the news today. I can't remember the man's name, but they just fanning and fanning the flames of racism

and making it seem like black folks, you know, don't work. We built this country. Like we're looking for a handout. We want welfare and from what studies show that black people are not number one in line for food stamps. You know what I'm saying? And I just, it's really sad. I know my point is all over the place, but just the hypocrisy, Senator's kind of how they would, quote,

Jesus Christ and have so much hatred and quote Dr. King and have so much hatred and racism and white supremacy. It's just absolutely unbelievable, you know, to love Dr. King and quote him today, yesterday, you know, on his birthday and to talk about Jesus, Bible toting, Bible thumping, or whatever, and, you know, and you hate people of color. And a lot of them actually voting against things that would help them. But they're just getting bad, bad information, and they believe in it or whatever because something, I can go on. But no, they do believe. I mean, you're absolutely right. And there really is no rationale for this other than you continue to see other people as some kind of threat to your quality of life. And that is not the case. And because the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did indict this country. He was very clear about it. And so these, you know, him, he would have been 94. What would he have, have thought about the progress. There's no doubt that we made some progress, but not enough progress. Another point, Ricky, I want to share is that in Dr. Cornell-West's book, The Radical King, he also lays out how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. balk back against these people who criticized

him particularly. He had a particular message for black leaders. Now, he didn't let white leaders all, but black folks in particular, he had a problem with, I mean, he let them know. So Dr. King responded to his critics, black leaders in particular, with this mic drop right here. I want you to, I want us, we're going to wrap our minds around this. What you are saying may get you a foundation grant, but it won't get you into the kingdom of truth. In other words, you cape for some folks who are going to give you a few coins, but you're not going to get into the kingdom with this foolishness. I'm sitting up here standing up for the least of these, our sisters and brothers and family, friends. And you folks sitting up here criticizing me and judging me and not just that,

fighting against me all the way. Absolutely. And that, you know, at that point, I think when Dr. King was telling the truth and start ruffling feathers, it probably, you know, that's when they decided to assassinate him, which of course they had been trying to assassinate him for years. But yeah, I just couldn't imagine being Dr. King and dealing with where he dealt with it and going through where he went through. That's why I love and honor him. And I thank God for him because I wouldn't have the opportunities that I have. And among others and my kids and my grandkids had not been for Dr. King, but we still have a long way to go. Yeah, we do. Well, both of us owe him a debt of gratitude to Mrs. Coretta Scott King, too, his partner in all things good.

She is the reason why we have this holiday right now because she fought so hard to make sure that it would happen. And some folks probably don't remember, but it wasn't that automatic to have the MLK Day holiday. There are many people that did not want to see this happen. States were holding out. I mean, it took, it was a long time coming. So, yes, Ricky, we do owe him and Mrs. King and their entire King family and all of the other freedom fighters whose names we don't know. who were right there fighting for justice and equality for all. So we got to keep on fighting.

We will be right back after this. Welcome back to they called him radical. I have none other than the magnificent Sharon Reed with me. Sharon, darling, how are you? Senator, honored to be here with you this evening. And just the word radical, it just gets me. That's my word, okay? So, yeah, let's jump.

But before we do that, I want to let everyone know. First of all, Ricky Smiley was here laying it down. And Dr. Ritchie is having some technical difficulties. We may not have him back on the show by the time we get to the end. But he is sending all of his love. And you are in good hands with Sharon Reed and myself. Yes, you are. So, Sharon, yeah, in that first half an hour, we were talking about radical and Dr. Richie defined the words so that people would understand that the reverend, based on the definition of radical, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was exactly that. And so you were saying, you got something to say about the word radical as well.

Yeah, and I just think that people forget, you know, because his legacy, Dr. King's legacy, has been boiled down to just this kind of whitewash in the textbooks, you know, just about people. peace, nonviolence, and sure he was those things, Senator, but let's not get it twisted here, okay? Dr. King was radical in his approach, thought provoking, and he knew how to get the job done, so much so that we're still pulling from his playbook. And so I think that, you know, it's a shame that it just comes around that we talk about him, and not us per se, but in greater society during his birthday or during Black History Month, because this is a true American hero who did the heavy lifting in a short amount of time. Yes. No, absolutely to that. And you just really hit on something that is so important that the work that he started and Mrs. Corrida Scott

King and their contemporaries, because it takes teamwork to make that kind of dream work, the fact that we think that only one day is enough, it's not enough to do this kind of deep-seated work. You know, Marianne Williamson, she was a candidate, she called for president in 2020. She wrote a wonderful, wonderful article. And I want to read just a little excerpt from it that hits on the point that you just made, Sharon. She said, it's not enough to praise him. We should emulate him. You know, Mike Drop him.

Yes. We should remember his words that, quote, our lives begin to end. And on the day we become silent about things that matter, end quote. He never did and neither should we, but we can't just talk. We must act. That's coming from Marianne Williamson. She wrote this in tribute to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And just reminding us that we got to get to work.

This is action. Yeah. It's lifelong action is not just one day. So what do you think, I mean, Dr. King, he would have been 94 years old. We're still dealing with some of the eels that he was fighting to help to eradicate poverty is one. He definitely stood up against militarism and he stood up against racism. But yet we find ourselves, but it almost seems like history is repeating itself. How do you think he would feel about the moment that we're in?

Part of me wants to say he'd be dejected and say, why did you squander? Why did you squander so much? Why not keep going? Because there's a lot of, there's poor white people out here. Sure. Who don't perhaps understand as much how much Dr. King fought for them. How much Dr. King fought for poor people, for access, who understood how important the press was, an open, real press that was inclusive, right?

I like to think, and I fought with many a colleague, which is something I enjoy. I enjoy, Senator Turner. I actually enjoy it. I enjoy it. Because there's this thing in our industry too often that you're better than the people who watch us or your scripting, your posting, what you believe should be covered is somehow superior than the people who watch us. That's not what Dr. King believed.

Frankly, we're all journalists. And my peers hate when I say that, we're all journalists. You have an iPhone, you have a cell phone, you take a picture, you're reporting first person. That's journalism too. And so I'd like to think that the more free and open the press is the better off America is because we know how the lie started, right? The most, you know, the lie, where you had some of the most preeminent journalists in the country and world thinking it was funny and thinking it was cute.

But Dr. King knew that truth actually matters and it's a window to more. Yeah, absolutely. One of his quotes, I'm thinking about truth pressed down to the earth show rise. Amen. Like you can't hold truth down. We were also talking about in that first half an hour about how politicians, especially with the advent of social media, love to take to social media and quote Dr. King. So let's put up, we're going to continue that whole. Oh, my goodness.

We are going to Leader McConnell. Let's put up what Leader McConnell had to say about MLK Day. Shall we? Yes, we shall. Today we honor an American hero. Now, this stuff is true, though, but it's coming from him. Today we honor an American hero, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his dream of equal justice and abundant opportunity, inspired our nation to make historic progress and continues to make us better to this day.

Really, Lina McConnell? You know, here my grandmother would say, you got more nerves in a brand name. Your grandmother would be right. Your grandmother would be right, Senator Turner, because, and I, you know, don't know who actually authored the tweet. Okay, it could have been, it could have been Senator McConnell. But as I recall, when we, this country got its first black president, I thought that he was the head cheerleader for I'm going to make him one term president. I thought that was him, okay, based on what? There could be ideology, but I'd like to think there's more behind that.

Oh, I agree with that. That was him indeed. Maybe it was his stunt double. It could have been. It could have been. It could have been. I could have been. I got a stunt double too. I got a stunt double too. Let's see what my stunt double had to say about his tweet. This you? Oh, my goodness. Oh, look at this. Yeah.

His double is quite the investigative journalist is brought up this. Right. That is you. Own it. That's him. What would Dr. King say about that? Dr. King lit through it. Okay?

Wow. Yeah, that's him. Or how about this beauty right here? Kristen Cinema. Let's go. Oh, don't do it. Sure. Hey, can I drive out here?

Only love can do that. Martin Luther King, Jr. Happy M.O.B. Arizona. Really? Lady. Really? Really?

But they really got nerve. And they think that this encapsulates what it means to pay honor to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Instead of pushing public policies that would change the material conditions of people edify and lift them. Well, when you're a big farm and big business, who you have to answer to, you can. can't really do the people's work. Okay, you can't march on the streets. You can't help people organize and say no, demand their freedoms when you have big pharma and big business breathing down your neck and you pretend that it's about something else as you sit on the fence. But don't really tell people. What is it that she stands for? What do you stand for? I'm happy to debate.

I'm happy to listen to another point of view. But what is it that you actually stand for. It's the okey duck. And I don't think that people who participate and behave in this way on behalf of Americans, behalf of the people, should tweet anything related to Dr. King on his birthday or any other day. I really don't. I think it does take your grandmother was right. It really, really, really. That part, Sharon. I'm about to get out of this chair and just run around the studio. I mean, that. Done fell out. Yeah. That part. And we have some other instances of Dr. King being misquoted that we want to share with our viewers. Let's go ahead. Florida Governor Rod DeSantis. King. Yes. Invoked King when he proposed his stop-woke act aimed at limiting discussions around slavery and racism in public schools. Then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell referred a reference King's speech when he won re-elect. in 2020, but McConnell opposed the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act.

A Bill King saw signed into law, Republican rep Kevin McCarthy, now the Speaker of the House, tweeted in 2021, quote, critical race theory goes against everything Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us. You know what, Sharon? Now, these folks want to be to stop. They really do. Yeah, they really do. And I, you know, I sometimes have this vision because, you know, we love John Lewis. Everybody love John Lewis, right? And here in Georgia, I can't escape the visions. And the last time you got to speak to him. Everything he said, everything he did was with peace and it was profound. That's a hero right there before his time was standing up for all kinds of people, right? And I'd like to think that he is right now having a conversation with Dr. King. And I know John Lewis was too good to call names. I once heard someone call Governor Ron DeSantis a cheap bobblehead knockoff. It might have been me. And I don't think you should do that, right?

I really don't think that that's how you fight. You don't fight fire with fire. But in this case, it is just such hypocrisy and such ignorance. And the glee that he takes in uttering this great man's name, you know, luckily, Dr. King's children, they get them together. They get people together from time to time on social media. Check their timelines. But I really hate that people co-opt this great American hero's name and try to co-opt it for their own trash. And that's really what it is.

Yeah, that is it. And speaking of gathering, you're right, because Dr. Bernice King was on that gathers are all the way together. Well, into them folks. Get you together. Yeah, about my daddy? No. Let them know. Yeah, absolutely, let them know.

Dr. King on equality, let's share some of that. Now our strength is for genuine equality, which means economic equality, for we know now that it isn't enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't have enough money to buy hamburger? What does it profit a man to be able to eat at the swankiest integrated restaurant when he doesn't even earn a hamburger? enough money to take his wife out to dinner. What does it profit one to have access to the hotels of our cities and the hotels of our highways when we don't earn enough money to take our family on a vacation? What does it profit one to be able to attend an integrated school when he doesn't earn enough money to buy his children some school club? The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther

King, I'm telling you, Mike drop every time. That's why he's one of the most quotable people in the world even to this moment. But Sharon, that's radical what he just said. And if people are alive today saying that kind of stuff, Sharon Reed, they would be trying to cancel him right now. Yes, they would.

And this is why, sure, an ethical, moral man didn't have to be perfect. He was perfect in our eyes and perfect in his approach in the way he went about it. And then again, such a short window of

time. But the reason I say he's ahead of his time is because he was on to all of it. How do you divide the people while you pick their pockets? This is what President Johnson said, right? He said, I love to pull up the quote because it really speaks volumes about what's happening. President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, if you can convince the lowest white man, he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice what? You're picking his pocket. Come on. Hell, give him somebody to look down on and he'll empty his pockets. for you. That's what's going on here, right? If we can keep poor people believing that brown people hurt them, took from them, stole from them, want to perpetrate crime against them, we'll give up all our coins. We don't have a roof over our head, but we'll give up all our coins just to have that feeling, that fake, that fraudulent feeling that we're better than another man. That's what it's all about. Dr. King knew this ahead of his time. Radical. Very much, very much ahead of his time.

And we're going to keep going on white Americans, because Dr. King didn't mince words on this either. He said the following. First, and this is excerpt from a letter from the Birmingham jail. First, I must confess that over the past few years, I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I got a pause. Let me just get it together because Dr. King warned us about the white moderate. Yes, he did. He said, I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's greatest stumbling block in his stride towards freedom is not the white citizens counselor or the Ku Klux Klanar, but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice, who prefers a negative peace, which is the absence of tension to a positive peace, which is the presence of justice who constantly says, I agree.

with you in the goal you seek. Oh, Lord, have mercy on my soul. Yeah, that part. The Reverend Radical, the radical Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, he goes on. But I cannot agree with your methods of direct action who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom. Who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a more convenient season. Shallow understanding

from people of goodwill is more frustrated than absolute misunderstanding from people of EO Wheel. Loop warm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright for Jason. You know, I'm just, I just can't.

That's good. Is why the FBI opens a file on you? Because the truth makes you dangerous, okay? We see it everywhere. I mean, I'll tell you, you just tell the truth in the newsroom, and I'm going to tell you something, okay?

They might want to try to take you out in cuffs, not your girl, though. I don't know about it. We know about this, but you have to speak truth to power, okay? Because we know these moderates, right, who just want to be comfortable. They just want to just accept minutia. They're the ones that were on the George Zimmerman jury, believing the lie after it. A black child was stopped with Skittles and the Snapple and suddenly defended himself,

but the lie is he's a big black aggressor. If you don't believe that, you have to deal with some radical truths. The way America was born, how she was reared, and how she is today. It's all radical. It's all ridiculous. And I happen to believe that, you know, someone asked me, Well, you know, the white woman needs to do more. Well, you think?

You think? Okay? I'd like to say that for all the marching, John Lewis and everybody else who came before him and is still taken to the streets, gay Americans, brown Americans, poor Americans, I believe that more heavy lifting by just one segment of our population would do wonders. But in order for that to happen, she would have to give up her place. And I don't know a lot of people want to do that, okay? I don't have a problem doing that, okay? I do that when I'm younger, with my sisters.

Here, I have a candy bar, you take half. But until she's ready to do that and those in power are ready to say, you know what, we have enough. Just think about it, Senator Turner. In the time that Martin Luther King left us till now, look at the wealth. and who has it. Yes. Look who has it. And look how much they have.

All that. Yeah, wealth inequality. I mean, it's scandalous what is happening. It's scandalous. And that was Dr. King's critique of capitalism, unfettered greed that is going on where so few people have so much and so many people have so little. And, you know, it just makes me seed to see these politicians in particular, quote in the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, sharing, and they let the child tax. credit expire. They let the child tax credit that lifted almost 50% of our children out of poverty.

Those fools, because that's exactly what they are, callous, hardless fools, let it expire. But meanwhile, back at the Congress, these folks found a bipartisan way to increase the military industrial complex. No, stop it. That can't be true. $158 billion would have been. They found a bipartisan way to get that done, but they did not find a bipartisan way to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. They didn't find a bipartisan way to pass the George Floyd Policing Act.

They didn't find a bipartisan way to keep and make permanent the child tax credit. They did not find a bipartisan way to give the rail workers some sick leave. You preaching now. And this is disturbing. And it's disturbing. In our own demise. Yeah, in our own demise. But yet there's plenty of money for war.

And there's plenty of money to run someone who wants to talk about vampires in Georgia. There is no budget when they say, hey, we want to run Herschel Walker in Georgia. There's no budget for that. And it's sick because children don't matter. And children can't vote. But everybody was a child at one point. Everybody was a child at one point, but the fact that kids are hungry, cold, sick, dying, okay? And the worst offense may be hopeless.

The fact that children in America are growing up in this day and age without hope and the promise of a better tomorrow, that's criminal. That's criminal. Very much so. In the wealthiest nation on the face of the earth, because we are a hegemon nation. not forget that part right there. So we do have the resources as a matter of will. Do people have the courage to do it? Dr. King goes on about white America. White Americans must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society, plain and simple. He was talking about the redistribution of wealth, universal basic,

income. He chestized this country on militarism, materialism, and racism. So yeah, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was radical. And this one, where do we go from here? 1967, here's another excerpt, Sharon, and we might end it on this one. But whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to re-educate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe that they have so little to learn. The reality of substantial investment to assist Negroes into the 20th century, adjusting to Negro neighborhoods and genuine school integration is still a nightmare for far too many white Americans. I mean, Sherry, Dr. King preaching a sermon for right now. He really is.

Right now. And what so many people don't realize is white, black, brown, you're going to have to deal with this one way or the other. Come on. There's no escaping it. I know you think you may be, you know, at the top of the totem pole. But at the end of the day, there's no escaping this until there's justice for everyone. Until everyone gets a larger, it's not even a piece of the pie anymore. There's not crumbs for some people.

There's not crumbs for some people. And the sense of entitlement where you have people, Senator Turner, that we've been covering on this network who think they can spray water on an unhoused woman on a San Francisco sidewalk because she doesn't belong here, though she has nowhere to go. And she's struggling with her mental health gone untreated. Yeah, I mean, that just happened. Just happened. Yes, we've been covering that on this network. I mean, we need another show just to talk about the record. I feel like I've been to church myself. Do you also preach at Ebenezer? Hey, I would have been better. You preaching that sermon as well. I want to close with this. What is needed, this is Dr. King.

What is needed is a realization that power without love, this is the point you were making, is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at his best is love correcting everything that stands against. or justice at his best is love correcting everything that stands against love. That is the radical. Yes. Reverend.

Right Reverend. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sherry, you are absolutely the best. To Dr. Vichie, he's sending his love. He had two of the best standing in for him and to our brother Ricky Smiley. And to each and every one of him, thank you so much for joining us as we venture to and dissect the. radical Dr. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. May we live his words and get to work. So much work to do to put up, to lift up justice and all of this.

You're doing it. You're doing it. You embody the best, Senator Turner. I appreciate you. I appreciate you too, Sherry. Send it so much love. And to all of you for joining us tonight. We're sending love too. Now let's get to work. for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work, listen to ad-free, access members, only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at Apple.com slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.