Jan 18, 2021 - But I digress...
“And I say to you, I have also decided to stick with love, for I know that love is ultimately the only answer to humankind’s problems. And I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go…For I have seen too much hate. And I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear.” —Martin Luther King Jr.
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Kim France
I was born in Houston, Texas in 1964 and have lived in New York City since 1988. I had a long career in magazines, working at Sassy, Elle, New York, and Spin, and in 2000, I founded Lucky magazine, which I edited for ten years.
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I was born in Houston, Texas in 1964 and have lived in New York City since 1988. I had a long career in magazines, working at Sassy, Elle, New York, and Spin, and in 2000, I founded Lucky magazine, which I edited for ten years.
Love this so much. Thank you.
Hi Kim, countering a quote here with a quote by an activist and artist I greatly admire, Bree Newsome Bass. It’s an old tweet of hers, hence the shorthand spelling: “Plz don’t quote MLK as a vapid platitude unless ur also committed 2 speaking against racism, poverty & war in the way that cost him his life.”
Looking forward to more growth and introspection for all of us in this next era.
Are *you* speaking against racism, poverty, and war in the way that cost MLK his life, MG? We’re all just doing the best we can. I thought that given the events of the past couple of weeks, this line of his was especially resonant. If it struck you as vapidly presented, I don’t know what to say.
I don’t think MG was saying they she personally thought your use of the quote was vapid. Representative Nancy Mace recently invoked King as support for not impeaching Trump. This is obviously not what you are doing with that beautiful quotation, but I think understanding how MLK’s radicalism has been ignored and his words used in opposition to Black radicalism and to make white moderates and liberals feel comfortable is something we should be mindful of. Bree Newsome Bass’s words certainly made me think, and I intend to tell my son about them as we work on his school MLK project. I very much appreciate the way you have highlighted the creative work of Black women on this site, Kim.
Re-upping/building on my own comment to say, why not suggest donating to some contemporary black-led organizations that are continuing MLK’s work nationally or in NYC?
MG, you “countered” a quote about the power and importance of loving one another with an insult. No amount of “re-upping” is going to make that smell better.
I added my second comment before the responses to my first one were visible (at least on my phone), so I apologize that it appears that I’m not responding to Kim’s response. I didn’t see it yet when I added my second comment about donations, or I would have responded to that. Kim, I apologize that my comment is brusque and I’m not claiming to posses a fraction of King’s courage, but neither am I quoting his inspirational words stripped of his radical legacy. I am doing work to advance racial justice ‘in my lane’ and that isn’t related to the the content of this website, so I don’t feel the need to explain here, and I very much believe that you are doing your best too. I certainly don’t come to GOACA for racial justice— personally I come here for some fun window shopping escapism most of the time. And if you had not posted anything today, that would have been totally fine by me. But I do think if this space is going to touch on reality beyond style/shopping/pop culture, you have cultivated an intelligent forum here and the discussion could be meaningful. I apologize if the word “vapid” comes off as too harsh in the quote, but I think think Newsome’s powerful sentiment worth considering as a whole. Also, here’s a *fun teen magazine fact* she was included in YM’s “20 coolest girls in America” when she was in high school.)
I have worked and taught in the field of social justice for 30 years. This is what I know: anger poisons, love heals. Sometimes anger does serve us, but it is a righteous anger built on a foundation of love and moral conviction. MLK, along with many other spiritual leaders, spoke of the transformative power of love. The idea that if we stopped yelling at each other and instead focused on loving the people right in front of us, we could change the world. That is a truly radical idea. Please don’t weaponize it.
wow. i never know what i’ll see on the GOCA comments.
there’s no 2 ways about it, using the word VAPID isn’t harsh, it’s definition of inflammatory here.
i didn’t know Nancy Mace quoted MLK. no end to the horror.
🙁
Taking you at your word, let’s briefly discuss the quote. I am curious, in what “way” did the good reverend speak which cost him his life? I had always assumed he was murdered by someone who hated black people and didn’t want them to be treated equally. Was the person you quoted saying he was actually murdered bc he was some kind of commie or something? (Don’t worry, I’ll go google it… very, very briefly.) … … Really though, this is why I don’t like Twitter. It just causes fights. Things are taken out of context.
Okay, I went and looked. Although I can only bear Twitter for a minute or two, it looked like she was just trying to say some version of, don’t use MLK just to make yourself feel better – we should actually pay deeper attention. (Not that anyone up top there had any real response.) … … Since the quote Kim used here was completely lovely and there is no reason to believe she didn’t invoke it sincerely, then I declare this yet another stupid Twitter fight. Over *nothing.*
I would not have characterized this as anything like “a stupid Twitter fight”, but rather people raising awareness of more complex and nuanced understandings in our conversations – I find that encouraging. Thank you to everyone who shared their perspectives. How cool that readers were inspired to delve further & learn a little more!
The kind of leadership we need now. Thank you, Kim. ❤️
Did Bird have a closing sale?
thank you Kimfrance.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ❤️
So hard, yet so important, to stick with love right now.
Thank you for this. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Trying to practice this every day when I don’t see a reason or logic to so much of what is happening around me these days.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKMfFmGLuFc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
From President Obama today – how to honor Dr King without co-opting his legacy to promote toxic positivity.
Thanks for this. I found it very concise and helpful. I get my feelings hurt too, but I also value understanding the ways I participate in structural racism, many of which are invisible to me. As a white woman my feelings are less important than Black people’s lives.
This quote resonated for me today:
“When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” — Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., ‘Revolution of Values’ (April 4, 1967)