Tap Tap Tap

So who has to work today?

LIVE: President Obama Speaks At March On Washington 50th Anniversary Tribute

The president is slated to begin around 3pm.

50 Years Ago Today

RNC Speaker Slams Gays & Immigrants For Pushing Poor Black People Aside

"I really think that the civil rights movement in it’s effort to expand has excluded some of the people that it originally designed to help and that’s low income people of all races. I didn’t hear poor people mentioned at all very much [on Saturday]. It was the environmentalists, women, gays, and immigrants. Everybody except poor people. The next frontier for me in the civil rights movement, is what are we doing for the least of God's children. Everybody has come in front of them on the bus: gays, immigrants, women, environmentalists. We never hear about the conditions confronting poor blacks and poor people in general." - Bob Woodson, speaking yesterday at a Republican National Committee luncheon to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March On Washington. Woodson's comments earned him a standing ovation from GOP leaders.

RELATED: Noting the criticisms of Woodson's comments, Log Cabin Republicans head Gregory Angelo rushes to his defense via press release.

"I was at yesterday's event, and on my feet with everyone else in the room applauding Mr. Woodson for his bold remarks. His words weren't meant to diminish the importance of the gay rights movement at all. In context, his speech was an indictment of a culture in the United States of zero-sum morality where one cause takes money, media, and attention away from others. 50 years out from the famed March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and black unemployment is at 12.6% today. 44 years out from Stonewall and gay men and women face discrimination and murder because of who they are. There's no reason we should work to achieve one victory at the expense of another."

She Had A Dream

Tap Tap Tap

Who's working today? Are you watching the festivities?

Alveda King Fires Back At Critics

"The 21st century homosexual lobby likes to point to the professional relationship between my uncle Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bayard Rustin, his openly homosexual staffer who left the movement at the height of the campaign. Rustin attempted to convince Uncle M. L. that homosexual rights were equal with civil rights. Uncle M. L. did not agree, and would not attach the homosexual agenda to the 20th century civil rights struggles. So Mr. Rustin resigned. He was a brilliant strategist and was hired by Uncle M. L. not because he was gay, but because he was a capable strategist. He also was not fired, he chose to resign. My uncle was not a bigot, and he didn't judge people for the color of their skin nor their sexual orientation. Neither do I. As compassionate Christians who won't be forced to sit on the back of the bus as far as our spiritual commitments are concerned, we can be compassionate without endorsing sin." - Alveda King, apparently feeling the heat after yesterday's denouncement of the NAACP. Hit the first link for much more.

Has MLK's Daughter Evolved On Gays?

Martin Luther King's daughter Bernice is infamous for her anti-gay track record. But King surprised onlookers yesterday when she included LGBT people in remarks made at a ceremony honoring her father. Dyana Bagby reports at Georgia Voice:

In a passionate, sermon-like speech about building unity, King said she didn't care if people were Hindu, Buddhist, Islamist, were from the North side or the South side, were black or white, were “heterosexual or homosexual, or gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender” — that all people were needed to create unity. LGBT people who attended the rally said they were shocked that King – who has a long anti-gay past — actually acknowledged the community in a public speech, but said they were also glad because it shows people can evolve.

Rev. Maressa Pendermon, a minister with LGBT-inclusive Unity Fellowship Church, said she at first intended to tune out King because of her anti-gay past, but decided to pay attention one more time. For her father's vision to be realized we've got to come together across boundaries and then she got in preacher mode. Then she said ‘heterosexual or homosexual,’ and then backed up and said ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.’ We need all of us,” Pendermon said. There's always room for growth,” Pendermon said, describing her reaction to King's words. “People grow and people change. Sometimes we don't let them. I wasn't expecting that. And I was already ready to shut down but I challenged myself to listen and I'm glad I listened."

Possibly related to Bernice King's apparent change of heart is that she's just been named the CEO of Atlanta's King Center, which was founded in 1968 by her late mother (and gay ally), Coretta Scott King. Last year Bernice King resigned her position with Eddie Long's Atlanta-based megachurch after Long was accused of coercing sex from several young men.

UPDATE: Pam Spaulding weighs in.

Tap Tap Tap

Is this thing on? Who's working today?

Sean Chapin - MLK Tribute

JMG regular Sean Chapin visited the site of Martin Luther King's assassination as part of this tribute video. The MLK memorial in DC is about to have its official opening.

ILLINOIS: Black Pastors Honor MLK By Denouncing Civil Rights

And the SPLC-certified hate group the Illinois Family Institute was there to film it all. Former IFI head Peter LaBarbera was there too and hate-tweeted ecstatically throughout.

SPOKANE: Bomb Found On Martin Luther King Day Parade Route

Black Gays March In LA's MLK Day Parade

A coalition of African-American gay groups marched in yesterday's Martin Luther King Day Parade in Los Angeles. Among those attending: The Barbara Jordan/ Bayard Rustin Coalition, The Here to Stay Coalition, Black Lesbians United, In the Meantime Men’s Group, At the Beach Los Angeles Black Pride. Hit the link for more on the event.

I Have A PowerPoint

An NYU professor has turned Martin Luther King's famed I Have A Dream speech into a PowerPoint presentation.

Illinois Family Institute On MLK Day

"Homosexualist organizations have one goal that reigns supreme over all others: the eradication of the true moral belief that homosexual acts are profoundly immoral. And they are willing to exploit the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement in order to achieve their morally dubious and intellectually vacuous goal. [snip]

"Philosophical conservatives and all people who are committed to rational argument need to openly, courageously, and persistently challenge the flawed analogy that suggests that homosexuality is equivalent to race, for this is the assumption upon which the entire homosexual-normalization house of cards is built." - Laurie Higgins of the SPLC-certified hate group, the Illinois Family Institute. The IFI is the former home of Peter LaBarbera.

Tap Tap Tap

Who has to work today? Anybody?

Quote Of The Day - Maine Gov. Paul LePage

"Tell 'em to kiss my butt. They are a special interest. End of story. And I'm not going to be held hostage by special interests. And if they want, they can look at my family picture. My son happens to be black, so they can do whatever they'd like about it." - Tea Party-backed Maine Gov. Paul LePage, after refusing to attend an NAACP-sponsored event honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. LePage has an adopted son from Jamaica.

The New MLK

Glenn Beck's Hate-O-Rama takes place in DC this weekend. GOProud will be there!

Glenn Beck: I Am The New MLK

ATLANTA: MLK's Niece Betrays Heritage And Speaks At NOM's Hate Tour

And she did it today before an all-time low Hate Tour crowd of FIFTEEN, versus over 250 of the good guys. The Courage Campaign quotes Alveda King: “I don’t know about you but I’m not ready to be extinct,” King said to the crowd after pointing out that “it is statistically proven” that marriage between one man and one woman is the foundation of society.
RELATED: Many more photos can be found at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.