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Google Snubs King

by Open-Publishing - Monday 15 January 2007
3 comments

Internet Movement Discriminations-Minorit. Democracy History

First they re-name road, then Martin Luther King Day fails to make the cut

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA — (OfficialWire) — 01/15/07 — Online Reservation System Despite the company’s quaint habit of commemorating holidays and ’important’ events with a ’holiday logo’ and despite having twice previously recognized Martin Luther King Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin...), Google, Inc.—the world most popular search engine—has given the famous leader of the American civil rights movement the cold shoulder on his birthday.

On January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Day was officially observed in all 50 U.S. states as a National holiday. The day is usually marked by demonstrations for peace, social justice and racial and class equality, as well as a national day of volunteer community service.

Dennis Hwang (Hwang Jung-moak), a 23-year-old Korean computer artist in the United States, has been drawing the face of Google since early 2000, but decided to ignore the holiday this year, or maybe Dennis is just following orders.

Recently it was reported that Google Maps Had Disappeared MLK Way (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/...). In this case, Thai Tran, product manager for Google Maps, offered a reasonably feeble excuse for the re-naming of the street.

Google recognized Martin Luther King Day last year and in 2003.

The question must be asked: Are these acts, by Google executives, intentional or are they merely insensitive to one of the most widely revered figures in American history?

– http://www.officialwire.com/main.ph...

Forum posts

  • Mass Movement...Dr. King addresses thousands of supporters gathered near the Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC, on May 17, 1957 during a
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    January 12, 2007

    WOULD DR. KING BE ON YOUTUBE?

    “Our nettlesome task is to discover how to organize our strength into compelling power.” — Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

    Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community (1967)

    As Americans pause this weekend to reflect on the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we must take time to remember that one of his greatest legacies is that of unending, enduring and effective advocacy. All over the country – from wooded neighborhood parks to marbled state capitols – people are living King’s true legacy as they join together to fight for a more just, more fair, and more perfect society.

    But the very notion of public advocacy has changed dramatically since King’s death. No longer does such advocacy primarily bubble up in discussions at backyard barbecues or church basement socials. Today’s activism is rooted in the liberating, democratizing medium of the Internet – from MySpace to YouTube to podcasts to thousands of micro-targeted political blogs.

    As shown in a new report released today by PolicyLink, a national public policy organization, effective electronic advocacy is finally accessible to all people with the passion to make true change. And with the tremendous increase in Internet access among low-income communities and communities of color, advocates can speak directly to a much bigger slice of their once hard-to-reach audience.

    “E-advocacy isn’t just for the big-time, big-money groups anymore,” said Arnold Chandler, the author of the new PolicyLink report Click Here for Change: Your Guide to the E-Advocacy Revolution. “Advocacy on the web can help even the smallest group reach out, fundraise and organize with power and passion.”

    The report – released today and available at www.policylink.org/projects/eadvocacy
    gives organizations new to e-advocacy the tools they need to:

    * Create interactive web sites
    * Send email alerts and newsletters
    * Peer-to-peer organize
    * Effectively Podcast and Blog
    * Create online animation and videos
    * Initiate discussion forums and chat rooms

    As the state and local races heat up in 2007 and the 2008 presidential race begins in earnest, these tools will become increasingly vital for organizations looking to make a real difference in their communities and their country. Dr. King would be proud.

    PolicyLink is a national research and action institute that works collaboratively to develop and implement local, state, and federal policies to achieve economic and social equity.

    Creation begins with the power of the women. As long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the water flows, it means that the birth of our people will continue. In the end it is the power of the women and the men together that made it happen. As long as we are people, we will exist. We must remember our original instructions that come from the natural world. Our most precious commodity is our mind. We all have been given a path to be free through the use of our minds!

    TRIBUTE TO SIX NATIONS - INDIGENOUS NEWSMAKERS OF 2006:
    "WE WANT ’HOME RULE ON TURTLE ISLAND’ IN CANADA & USA!"

    First Nations Start Taking Back Stolen Land

    MNN. Dec. 31, 2006. We’ve been saying this from the beginning! On February 28, 2006 Six Nations people swept into international prominence. They took back some stolen land and kicked off the developers. They’ve held it since. Why is this story important?

    There were numerous military attacks launched against the people at the site which became known as “Kanenhstaton”. The colonizers want the Indigenous people to go home and stay invisible. With the support of brothers, sisters, hundreds of Indigenous nations worldwide, friends and allies, the people stood firm.

    Minister of Indian Affairs, Jim “Jonestown” Prentice, was kicked out as Minister. We refuse to look up to him as our “great white father”. Colonial appointments at the “table talks” were constantly backed further into the wall. Our brilliant researchers put out irrefutable research to back up our claims to the “Haldimand Tract” and beyond.

    The colonists pretend they can cut off our rights and take our possessions by the stroke of a pen. They don’t want to discuss the issues on a nation-to-nation basis, as set out even in their own laws. They don’t know what to do. They have become afraid of our truths.

    We constantly speak of non-violence. They have the power of guns and weaponry to use on us while we have nothing. We believe they don’t mind striking at defenseless people if no one is looking. Sure, we know what kind of brutality they can mete out to us. When pushed, we defend ourselves as we have a right to do. They call us “vandals” and they say they are the law.

    Six Nations people never wanted to be martyrs. They only wanted to do what they’re supposed to do. They showed that we must unite and be treated as equals, and it doesn’t mean becoming Canadians or Americans.

    The 500 years of colonialism have been over for a long time. Six Nations and many others have led the way. Canada, wake up and smell the coffee. Yes, someone else was here first. Stop your brutality. Six Nations showed us how to be firm and dignified. It was the principles of the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law of Peace that provided the path. We have laws and we must never submit to their foreign laws. They never got the right from us to have jurisdiction over us and our land.

    What did Six Nations reveal?

    One of our big problems is the “sell-outs” set up by the colonial governments to do us in. We saw some of our band councilors come out and openly commit espionage and treason against us. We saw rich “Indian” politicians riding around in limos, with big bank accounts and “Indian” and foreign police at their beck and call. They are setting themselves up to be the masters who will replace the colonists to rule over us. So they think!

    We found out we don’t need so many cars, shoes and clothes. All we need is one and to wear it with dignity. We don’t want anyone to be the master over another. We must live as who we are, according to our own minds.

    The colonists despise our attitude because we object to having our peace disturbed. They don’t know where we find the nerve to assert ourselves like we do.

    Our resistance has provoked responses from our Caledonia neighbors who are “squatting” on our land. We embarrassed all those who want to treat us like slaves. We changed their minds about killing us over their anger at us for asking that the colonists be law abiding.

    We commend the people of the Six Nations, our brothers and sisters, our friends and allies. They are all our heroes. Especially those who remained on the site through it all. The Six Nations people showed us how to reach into ourselves and how to use our anger in a constructive way. It takes bravery to take all that racist provocation that was hurled at us by the state and their hired guns like the KKK, skinheads and rioters and ’porky pig’s’ navy. They wanted to mow us down and tried to set this up many times.

    They tried to provoke, intimidate and constantly threatened to kill the men, women and children. Those threats became irrelevant to the point that we wanted to make, even when guns were constantly pointed at us.

    We cannot get our freedom by violence and murder. This would create shame. The Indigenous people are marching because we have been aroused. Six Nations did not despair. We have tyrants around us that seem invincible. Many of us were arrested and falsely charged. We used our minds. Many of our people refused to stand up in the colonial court when the colonial judge walked in. We are not Canadians or British subjects.

    Our message to Canada is to secure peace by removing your troops and your administration. Put them where they are needed, to control your own people. We want what’s ours. We are never going to lie down and let you walk over us again. We want you to see our wisdom. You cannot go on maintaining your system on us at gunpoint.

    Six Nations never said an “eye for an eye” because it makes everyone blind. We know the colonists have bad tempers. They kept trying to bring in martial law to control the situation of the white rioters who wanted to attack us. We saw their desperation. The Indian police, in some instances, can be the most brutal to us even when their police stations have not been burnt down, their uniforms ripped off them, their weapons confiscated or their cars turned over.

    Colonists, stop offending the hospitality that we have offered. Don’t be afraid of our desire for freedom and independence. We are not afraid to look any colonists in the eye. We don’t want to cooperate with this foreign system. We have to follow our duties by marshalling what is inside us. We have gone as far as we can under your brutal regime. We want Indigenous home rule on Turtle Island.

    Six Nations demonstrated that they will not back down. On February 28th, the anniversary of the reclamation of Kanenhstaton, let us hold our heads high. It is an important day. We must obey the law of the land, our law, not the colonial laws imposed to exploit us and our land. Turtle Island belongs to the Indigenous people. We will never grovel for what is ours. We will not lose strength when there are setbacks.

    Six Nations, you made the injustices visible. You gained a victory for all of us with friendship, not fear.

    Six Nations persistence continues. Though we’ve been blocked many times, we always try again. On January 1st 2007 the people will take over the Old Confederacy Council House on Six Nations that was stolen in the 1920’s. That’s when Colonel Morgan and Duncan Campbell Scott pretended to depose our government. They also denied us access to what was left of our trust funds after a series of unauthorized gifts and investments to institutions like the Grand River Navigation Company, McGill University and the Law Society of Upper Canada. These and hundreds of other debts have been certified but not repaid. If we don’t succeed, the coming generations will try again and again. The truth is on our side and we know we will win.

    Turtle Island will be free. We are still here. We have not retreated. We won’t let the colonists divide us, even when they cling to their old dreams which shall be one day gone.

    Creation begins with the power of the women. As long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the water flows, it means that the birth of our people will continue. In the end it is the power of the women and the men together that made it happen. As long as we are people, we will exist. We must remember our original instructions that come from the natural world. Our most precious commodity is our mind. We all have been given a path to be free through the use of our minds. Six Nations people, you used yours to analyze, to disagree and to come to an understanding. That is what freedom is. That is what the Six Nations people stood up for in 2006.

    Kahentinetha Horn

    MNN Mohawk Nation News
    Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com

    For updates, workshops, speakers, go to
    http://www.mohawknationnews.com


    Creation begins with the power of the women. As long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the water flows, it means that the birth of our people will continue. In the end it is the power of the women and the men together that made it happen. As long as we are people, we will exist. We must remember our original instructions that come from the natural world. Our most precious commodity is our mind. We all have been given a path to be free through the use of our minds!

    Maxine Waters at Hip Hop ’Post 9-11/Katrina’ Symposium:

    "We’re at a time when very smart people have been allowing the dumb-ass President of the United States to do as he pleases."

    Interview By Kam Williams

    Congresswoman Waters is the founding member and chairperson of the ‘Out of Iraq’ Congressional Caucus, established to generate debate about the war in Iraq and the Administration’s justifications for the decision to go to war, and to urge the return of US service members to their families as soon as possible. She is married to Sidney Williams, the former U.S. Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. She is the mother of two adult children, Edward and Karen, and has two grandchildren.

    Praised by the younger generation for her support and interest in their concerns, she was the only politician participating in a recent Symposium entitled Hip-Hop in a Post 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina America, staged at Princeton University, which is where this interview was conducted.

    KW: When I think of rap music, Congress is probably the last thing that comes to mind. Where do you think that you as a Congresswoman can work constructively with the hip-hop community?

    MW: I’m hoping to get the hip-hop community more involved with public policy makers, so that they could begin to influence the thinking of older and mainstream people. They can contribute tremendously in terms of dealing with the setting of public policy that really determines where this country is headed and how it’s going to get there. For instance, the FCC is having meetings all around the country. They were in L.A., and I was there taking them on about consolidation in the media, with the L.A. Times which is owned by the Tribune Company, along with WGN in Chicago, and 27 other TV stations, etcetera, etcetera. Now, wouldn’t it have been wonderful if the hip-hop community had been there with me and others who were prepared to take on the FCC?

    KW: Do you really think by patiently waiting for a turn to testify they would be respected at an FCC hearing like a ranking member of Congress?

    MW: Not in the same fashion, because if you conform to the outline of the Establishment at these hearings, those people who get to sit at the front of the room to be heard are there because they’re an elected official or the head of this or that organization, or what have you. The hip-hop community has to walk into the room as one, fill up the whole room, and say “I was invited but I’m here. I intend to speak. Yaw’l gonna’ let me speak? I‘ve got something to say!” All I’m saying is you’ve got to change the way things are handled, or you’re not going to have an influence.

    KW: When Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela, referred to President as the devil, Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel immediately defended Bush, despite his handling of Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq War. Do you think that this sort of response might be why the hip-hop generation feels unrepresented by black politicians?

    MW: After Hugo spoke at the U.N., what you basically saw were politicians rolling out to say “It’s not the right thing to say.” Or “How could he say such a terrible thing?” I know that a lot of people in the hip-hop community were upset and asking, “Why do those politicians do that?” But on the other hand, I didn’t see a group of people from the hip-hop activist community call a press conference or put together a rally, and say, “Here’s how we interpret what Chavez was doing.”

    KW: I think many folks feel that Kanye West came closer to expressing their feelings about Bush than the Congressman.

    MW: Maybe it was an in-artful description of how he felt about the President, but I think we missed an important moment. That was an opportunity that should have been seized upon for some serious discussion about what’s wrong with the public policies of this Administration.

    KW: What do you think about the President’s rationalization of ignoring the Geneva Conventions as Constitutional under the Patriot Act?

    MW: It’s undermining all of what we stand for. We can’t talk about the Constitution and not understand the danger to the democracy that is being presented at this time, given what they’re talking about, with the enemy combatants and the loss of habeas corpus. How can you know the Constitution, how can you be quiet, when democracy is crumbling before your very eyes, if you aren’t dealing with this issue? We need to deal with whatever’s going on now that’s changing the world and creating the kind of hatred that will not allow you to be an international person, because people don’t want to see you in other countries, understanding you as an occupier, and as an abuser.

    KW: What do you think of all the tax dollars squandered on Iraq?

    MW: We’ve spent $400 billion between Iraq and Afghanistan. That amounts to a couple of billion dollars a week. I stood on the floor of congress begging trying to get just one billion to fight HIV and AIDS to be able to fund all the outreach programs. But we’re at a time when very smart people have been allowing this dumb-ass President of the United States to do as he pleases.

    KW: Are you sure you want to characterize him that way?

    MW: Let the media take that and make something of it. But I’m not going to be like Kanye and the rest. I’m not backing off. I said it, and I mean it! The policies that have developed around Iraq and Afghanistan are ridiculous and outrageous and everybody should be protesting. The President has not only lied about why he’s there, but over 3,000 soldiers, men and women, are dead. For what? There were no weapons of mass destruction. You have over 20,000 young men and women seriously injured. Lost their legs, or their arms, eyes lost, brains shot out. They’re over at Walter Reed Hospital trying to figure out how they’re simply going to be able to see another day.

    http://www.blacknews.com/

  • Google.ca (Canada) shows a logo representitive of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (can’t get the picture) although it isn’t what is shown here in this article as the one with his face and the famous "I have a dream...". It is true though that unless one clicks on the Google logo, one wouldn’t know what the logo was commemorating. Check it out.