My conservative friend posted a question on my facebook page tonight in response to the video of King's last speech the night before he died.  He said it makes you wonder how the world would be different if he had lived.

We do have some inklings of course.  At the time he was organizing the Poor People's Movement and was planning on sitting in on the Capitol until the government agreed to eliminate poverty and jobs. Such a movement seems almost unimaginable in the current political climate, even with Obama as President. Had he lived on he would have continued to been a force in American politics, and he would almost have assuredly continued to be attacked verbally and physically by conservatives who stood against him on civil rights and then against him on the war in Vietnam and poverty. Remember he was in Memphis supporting the sanitation workers right to organize a union and to strike if necessary to get fair wages. The unionization rate was nearly a third in 1968 and after a concerted effort of undermining worker organizing, the unionization rate is now its under 10 percent of the workforce.

Originally posted on CrossLeft on Thu, 09/08/2005; Unfortunately, it seems as though we have fallen woefully short in the call to action that Katrina was.

For those of us not in the direct path of Katrina, the images of human desperation and tragic death have penetrated our hearts with deep sorrow and shock. We can barely comprehend the devastation and loss of each precious life. It is times like these that so many of us look to God for comfort and the courage to persevere.

So many people of goodwill around the world have sprung into action to donate their limited resources. Christianity at this point is best expressed in that financial support to relief and rebuilding efforts.

The time for a critical analysis of the failed response and the classism and racism inherent in the calamities of the New Orleans and the Gulf Coast must be in the agenda now. Progressive Christians will have a unique and important role to bring to that discussion and we intend to be active.