MLK Day 2012

In previous years for Martin Luther King Day, I've featured King's words and other civil rights material (see the "MLK" category below). This year, I wanted to at least link a few pieces focused on MLK himself (along with the Guantanamo piece). It's sometimes startling to remember he was only 39 when he was assassinated.

Democracy Now ran "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in His Own Words."

Rick Perlstein wrote a good piece back in 2008, "Conservatives and Martin Luther King." We've covered conservatives' attempt to appropriate King before, and it's especially amusing and shameless given their opposition to the actual man in his lifetime. As always, Perlstein provides some great details.

In a similar vein, Blue Texan has "Republicans and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: A Reminder." (Voting records are pesky things.)

Finally, one of my local PBS stations re-ran a 2010 special, "In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement." If you've got a soft spot for folk music, especially civil rights music, check it out. (I wasn't crazy about every performance, but some of the renditions are pretty good.)

Update: Roy Edroso: "Every MLK Day you get conservatives talking about how Martin Luther King was kind of a Rick Santorum type. At The Heritage Fondation this year, Matt Spalding drew the short straw..."