MLK

Private security officers in Philadelphia are joining together in a civil rights campaign for fair wages, benefits and dignity on the job.

Guards are signing up with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ and anticipate upcoming employer contract negotiations.

Produced by Kistine Carolan.

On Monday, January 15th, the amazing young leaders at the Philadelphia Student Union held a "Call to Witness and Action" to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday. The event called for an end to all forms of school violence. The messaging that the students developed for the event aimed to broaden our understanding of violence. The students explained that structural violence, produced by underfunding our public schools, leads to all sorts of negative outcomes, from high drop out rates, to low levels of college access, and a school-to-prison pipeline. In order to develop this deep understanding of violence, which even college students struggle to develop, PSU members came together for hours to probe the system in which their schools exist, developing a deeper analysis of the situation. Amazing, right?

On Monday, Philadelphia Student Union celebrated Martin Luther King's vision with a spirited rally outside the School District, a 600-person march down Broad Street, and a powerful service at Arch Street Methodist Church. Led by the young leaders of PSU, the event called for peace, justice and an end to all forms of violence. It was co-sponsored by 19 other organizations and attended by students, parents, teachers, and community members from every section of the city--as well as State Representative Vanessa Brown, Democratic candidate for Governor Joe Hoeffel, candidate for State Representative Will Mega, and Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams. There were so many inspiring speeches, songs and other moments--what made the biggest impression on you?

When we think of King, what do we think about? Bus boycotts, great speaker, leader of the civil rights movement, but we never stop to think who is telling his story. At a young age I was taught that King was a civil rights activists and a civil rights activist only. What I did not know was that King understood that it was not just a colored person problem. It was bigger than that it was a poor person problem. So lets think when King begun to speak out against the Vietnam War. All of a sudden, the media turned on him.

Head Start had requested $4.3 billion in the stimulus package. What' now being discussed in the Senate is $2.1 billion and even that' being challenged.

We had our first official screening, with the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania featuring media by four amazing organizations working in Philly. We thought this was the best way to highlight the lesser known mission of Dr. King - his passion for economic justice. To set the tone, we watched some footage from Citizen King, a documentary of the final years of his life. The movie is available from the Free Library (there are 33 copies in libraries all over the city) and its amazing so check it out!

Khalif Dobson of Philadelphia Student Union (!!) kicked it off with a powerful speech. We saw a montage of the media produced by MMP and others we're connected to, and then the panel screened 3 pieces and talked about their mission and messaging. Hopefully others will post their statements because there were some wise words by many, and photos too! Here's my intro to the montage...

The mass media played many roles in the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His messages and strategy were judged, and interpretations presented to the wider public on TV, radio and in newspapers. This became the lens through which King' message was known even during his lifetime.