On art, music, books, movies, politics, life - sometimes with astrology thrown in.
Monday, January 18, 2016
Music Monday ~ Martin Luther King Day
In 1968, and for many years after, I wasn't properly aware of the prominence of Dr. King in the affairs of the USA. Back in England I was living in something of a bubble, I suppose, without a reliable TV, and not often reading national newspapers. Reports of MLK's assassination, headline fashion, if I noticed them at all, must have gone right over my head. How different things are in 2016 when someone is killed or dies from natural causes. The internet is filled with notices of horror and/or grief - it'd be impossible not to be affected by such events now, wherever one's location.
On this Martin Luther King Day two musical interludes, and an apt cartoon drawing:
In a favourite movie of mine Across the Universe, the story is centered on songs by The Beatles. There's a scene depicting characters' emotions in the aftermath of events on that fateful day in 1968. The song was written by George Harrison.
MLK was one of the prominent vanguards for racial and economic injustice, equality, and reform, and bigotry in general. He essentially side-stepped the concurrent gay rights issue of that Uranus-Pluto-conjunction era, but he didn't condemn homosexuality and he had at least one professional, gay associate, eg Bayard Rustin. The advances in racial acceptance-equality that King co-influenced are being examined under stronger light now...the Uranus-Pluto square. POTUS Obama, half black, half white, yet collectively identified as black, seems to have stoked the machinery of racial hatred. A milestone in racial acceptance that Obama could be elected to the highest office and probably not feasible without King's diligence to his cause. It has been good for the extant, American re-examination of racial equality, as we are finding that racism has very tenacious roots. We gave racism a verbal response that looked good on paper...gave the issue enough inertia to superficially appease...but statistics indicate that true enactment of reform has failed. Back to the drawing board. A bit like removing the cancer from the patient, only to find that it has metastasized.
So much of the American activism that occurred in the late 1960s, for whatever cause, has resurfaced in our modern era for re-evaluation and editing: racial equality, gay rights, female reproductive rights, American wars, conservatism, et al. It may be coincidental to Uranus-Pluto events or directly cause-effect of such, but equality is on the chopping block once again.
King's birthday was January 15th...a Capricorn Sun, Pisces Moon http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Martin_Luther_King
mike ~ A bit like removing the cancer from the patient, only to find that it has metastasized you wrote. Yes. Also, medics say that there's some genetic fault in DNA that can make a body more susceptible to certain illnesses, including cancer. So taking the metaphor a step further, the faulty DNA of the USA has not evolved sufficiently yet; a couple of generations have not been able to throw off the disease completely - but perhaps a third generation will, the next one. All important changes, especially in a country as vast and diverse as the USA are always going to be slow (to our earth-bound eyes).
The like of MLK may not be seen again, but thankfully his ideas live on...as the cartoonist above was illustrating. As said in "V for Vendetta", Ideas are bullet-proof"
busy with a new rental property so not on the computer much.
I got a astro chart done and so it'll be slow going for me as I review different ideas from other writers , till I can TRY to put the whole chart together. even then, it'll be a fifty//fifty thing..
MLK was the right person at the right time, though many worked just as hard behind the scenes and didnt get the exposure , or perhaps, didnt want it:)
Sonny ~ Hi there - glad to know that you're just busy and not "under the weather". :-)
Step by step and slowly is the way to go when sorting out astrology. It's a bit like learning to read - first the alphabet, then words, then sentences, then remembering spellings, then reading full stories, and understanding them....etc. I'm still trying to understand some full stories! ;-)
MLK was figurehead and driver for a much-needed movement, his charisma must have driven in public, as maybe nobody else could have done at that time; all the while those helpers in the back-room helped keep the wheels turning in many different ways.
MLK was one of the prominent vanguards for racial and economic injustice, equality, and reform, and bigotry in general. He essentially side-stepped the concurrent gay rights issue of that Uranus-Pluto-conjunction era, but he didn't condemn homosexuality and he had at least one professional, gay associate, eg Bayard Rustin. The advances in racial acceptance-equality that King co-influenced are being examined under stronger light now...the Uranus-Pluto square. POTUS Obama, half black, half white, yet collectively identified as black, seems to have stoked the machinery of racial hatred. A milestone in racial acceptance that Obama could be elected to the highest office and probably not feasible without King's diligence to his cause. It has been good for the extant, American re-examination of racial equality, as we are finding that racism has very tenacious roots. We gave racism a verbal response that looked good on paper...gave the issue enough inertia to superficially appease...but statistics indicate that true enactment of reform has failed. Back to the drawing board. A bit like removing the cancer from the patient, only to find that it has metastasized.
ReplyDeleteSo much of the American activism that occurred in the late 1960s, for whatever cause, has resurfaced in our modern era for re-evaluation and editing: racial equality, gay rights, female reproductive rights, American wars, conservatism, et al. It may be coincidental to Uranus-Pluto events or directly cause-effect of such, but equality is on the chopping block once again.
King's birthday was January 15th...a Capricorn Sun, Pisces Moon
http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Martin_Luther_King
We could use a couple more just like him!
mike ~ A bit like removing the cancer from the patient, only to find that it has metastasized you wrote. Yes. Also, medics say that there's some genetic fault in DNA that can make a body more susceptible to certain illnesses, including cancer. So taking the metaphor a step further, the faulty DNA of the USA has not evolved sufficiently yet; a couple of generations have not been able to throw off the disease completely - but perhaps a third generation will, the next one. All important changes, especially in a country as vast and diverse as the USA are always going to be slow (to our earth-bound eyes).
ReplyDeleteThe like of MLK may not be seen again, but thankfully his ideas live on...as the cartoonist above was illustrating. As said in "V for Vendetta", Ideas are bullet-proof"
ReplyDeletejust popping in to say Hi..
busy with a new rental property so not on the computer much.
I got a astro chart done and so it'll be slow going for me as I review different ideas from other writers , till I can TRY to put the whole chart together. even then, it'll be a fifty//fifty thing..
MLK was the right person at the right time, though many worked just as hard behind the scenes and didnt get the exposure , or perhaps, didnt want it:)
Sonny ~ Hi there - glad to know that you're just busy and not "under the weather". :-)
ReplyDeleteStep by step and slowly is the way to go when sorting out astrology. It's a bit like learning to read - first the alphabet, then words, then sentences, then remembering spellings, then reading full stories, and understanding them....etc. I'm still trying to understand some full stories! ;-)
MLK was figurehead and driver for a much-needed movement, his charisma must have driven in public, as maybe nobody else could have done at that time; all the while those helpers in the back-room helped keep the wheels turning in many different ways.