Clinton's remarks insult Dr. King's legacy

As the Martin Luther King holiday approaches, now is the time to bring to mind Dr. King's commitment to equality, justice, and social change. Many of you may have heard Hillary Clinton's remarks last Monday that referred to King's role in the Civil Rights Movement:

“I would point to the fact that that Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when he was able to get through Congress something that President Kennedy was hopeful to do, the president before had not even tried, but it took a president to get it done,” she said. “That dream became a reality, the power of that dream became real in people’s lives because we had a president who said we are going to do it and actually got it accomplished.”



I find this sweeping comment gravely insulting. To say that "Dr King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act" completley overlooks the initiative Dr. King took to lead a movement so that the act could be passed in the first place. To say that it "took a president to get it done" minimizes the monumental role that King played in the Civil Rights movement and disregards the power that lies with the PEOPLE to push for social change.

The New York Times has an article today that goes into detail about the ramifications of her comment since last Monday. Note in this article that the primary figure in Hillary's defense is the founder of Black Entertainment Television, which I find to be more than a little bit ironic. Furthermore, he made a cheap shot at Obama's history of drug use (which Obama candidly wrote about in his first book in 1995) and then later passes his comment off as a reference to Obama's "community organizing." (You can read further details in the above article.)

The legacy of Dr. King should be regarded with much more respect than this. While Clinton was clearly trying to promote her own agenda and suggest that she as a president will make change in our country, she certainly made a huge mistake with this comment. Now the question is whether it will cost her votes in South Carolina.

ALSO: Stay tuned for tomorrow's LUCAP meeting, the theme of which will be the radical side of Martin Luther King.

Maroon reports, mischaracterized public housing movement

The Loyola Maroon reported today on the demolition of public housing in New Orleans.

Mr. Hultine's article, Bill of Rights, a piece mainly on Bill Quigley (Loyola Law), was spot on. Glad to see that Quigley has his tenure to protect him and that the University is honoring it.

The second piece, an editorial entitled Housing Issue nuanced, mischaracterized the public housing movement, ignored the many voices of reason who have advocated for 1:1 replacement of residents in the new housing, and ultimately came to no meaningful conclusion about the issue.

Both pieces are ripe for letters to the editor.

They report, you decide.

Come Meet a Public Housing Developer

Hey LUCAPeeps (My first post!):

I know that you all are really interested right now in the New Orleans public housing debate. With that said, I'd like to invite you to a presentation held jointly by the Rockefeller Foundation and UNO's Urban Planning department. It's going to be tomorrow - sorry about the short notice- so call or email me if you want to come with me.

The three hour seminar will be given by a St. Louis-based firm that has been given the contract (and all those juicy LIHTC - low income housing tax - credits!!) to redevelop one of the "big four" housing projects. In other words, they are a HUMONGOUS force in this saga. I don't know exactly what the format will be for the evening, but I encourage all of you to come and think critically about their proposal and be challenging. And if anyone wants a little background on the issue, stop by my office.

Here's the info...



Please join us for the Rockefeller Foundation Redevelopment Fellowship public speaker series featuring
Richard Baron, Chairman and CEO, McCormack Baron Salazar

McCormack Baron Salazar is a firm specializing in the development and management of mixed-income communities with an emphasis on large-scale redevelopment projects in central city locations. They are partnering with the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative to plan the redevelopment of C.J. Peete public housing community.

The event will take place on Thursday, January 10, 2008 from 6-9pm at the Hampton Inn University of New Orleans Downtown Center, Gravier Room, 3rd floor, 226 Carondolet Street

Dixville Notch Fails

So the small town with only 17 voters failed to adequately predict the winners in the primaries in New Hampshire.

It looks like, with close to 90% of the districts reporting, that Hilary Clinton, and John McCain have one the state. Complicating matters and making the election a little more weird.

View this fairly coherent chart at cnn.

For the Ron Paul Revolutionaries

So below you will find a quite friendly looking picture of Ron Paul, Don Black, and Derek Black. Derek is Don's son, and Don Black is founder of the white nationalist neo-nazi web forum http://www.stormfront.org/. You'll find that the nazi's are quite fond of Ron Paul.

New Hampshire

The town of Dixville Notch was the first to finish voting and turn in ballots today, according to this foxnews article.

According to this bordering on hilarious article the town "The town has 17 voters — two Democrats, three Republicans and 12 independents. Turnout was 100 percent. Four votes were cast by absentee ballot despite the fact that each voter was given his or her own booth at the town’s single polling station".

Also mentioned in the article were the results." McCain with 4 votes, Mitt Romney with 2 votes, Rudy Giuliani with 1 vote. Those were the only Republican votes cast". And on the Democrat side, "Obama won a landslide 7 votes compared with 2 for John Edwards, one for Bill Richardson and none for Hillary Clinton".

Lets see if this small town adequately predicts the N.H. primary.

Meeting Update and News

Hope everyone had a WONDERFUL break! Although our wonderful blog seemed to die out (or is that die-in?) over break, just know that it's back--alive and kicking (think Easter baby!) By no means a full re-cap, here are just a couple of announcements, updates, and new snippits from the meeting today:

1. NewCAP OFFICE LOCATION!
   Please stop by and see us! LUCAP has moved to the old New Student Orientation offices in the basement of the Danna Center between Black Student Union and the new Christian Life Community offices. Our lights are up, posters are hangin' and we're open and ready for business--the business of social justice!
   
2. ISN - The Ignatian Solidarity Network's Family Teach-in
   March 7-9, Los Angeles, CA. A three-day trip, we have space for around 11-13 students. If you are interested (and, I mean really interested) then please come by the LUCAP office or Rick's office to fill out an information sheet to let us know you're interested.
   
3. Recycling - Loyola has recycling! In a recent speech to the faculty, Fr. Wildes announced Loyola's commitment to recycling on campus. Here's the recycling proposal for more information and to learn more about where you can look forward to putting those aluminium cans and mixed paper.
   
4. SMILE (Students Moving into the Lives of the Elderly) - Come join Loyola Students and the folks at the Uptown Shepard center for a "Breakfast at Tiffany's" themed Brunch. Mark the date for Saturday, January 19th, from 12-2. Please email Vivi Tran for questions or more information!
   
5. Hunger Relief - This Sunday (Jan. 13th), from 11am - 1:30pm, join Roy and the Hunger Relievers for fellowship and conversation with the men at Ozanam Inn. Meet us in the LUCAP office to make sandwiches before we leave.

That's all for now--have a fantastic first day and hope to see you bloggin' soon!